


The Price You Pay

by Icka M Chif (mischif)



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Clones, Conspiracy, Family Feels, Family Secrets, Gen, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-09-09
Updated: 2006-10-17
Packaged: 2019-11-09 09:43:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17999459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mischif/pseuds/Icka%20M%20Chif
Summary: For everything there is a price to pay. Heiji discovers that sometimes the price you pay isn't what you'd expect.





	1. The Price You Pay for Freedom

**Author's Note:**

> Was asked to archive some of my older DCMK fic to Ao3 to preserve it. I found my original .txt files from 15 years ago and am uploading them As Is. Errors, embarrassing author notes, and all. *cringes*

The Price You Pay:  
For Freedom  
By Icka! M. Chif

"Kudo Shin'ichi is now wanted for the murder of Hanashika Ta-" He watched Agasa-hakase turn off the television with an angry click of the remote control. The news had been all over the media for the last couple of hours and already he was sick of it, probably as much as the scientist.

Kudo being accused of murder. Really. It was as unlikely as it was impossible. Kudo, or Edogawa, had been at school at the time. There was no way for it to happen.

And it was just up to him to figure out how it was done.

"He really didn't do it, you know." A voice spoke from the window ledge, startling both him and the kindly doctor who nearly dropped the beaker he carried. The figure in white chuckled, sliding into the room from his perch on the windowsill and closing the window after him with the ease of familiarity.

"Don't startle me like that, Kid-kun!" Agasa-hakase scolded. "It could have been something highly explosive and 'KA-POW'! There goes the whole place."

Kid the Phantom Thief, the moonlit kaitou himself, looked amused. "I would have caught it before it landed, Agasa-hakase." He assured the scientist. "Although..." he added in a thoughtful tone, "it wouldn't be out of character for that to happen."

Agasa-hakase playfully threatened to hit him with the beaker, causing the thief to laugh and hold his hands up in a placating gesture, acting like a child around a favourite uncle. The scientist certainly resembled one as he chuckled, unsuccessfully hiding a grin in his moustache. "So what brings you to my window tonight, Kid-kun? I don't have any new toys ready for you yet."

"What?" the Kid looked around the lab, poking at the various things that could be found there as if searching for a distraction. "I can't come visit an old family friend?"

The scientist raised an eyebrow. "Right. Now what was that you said when you first startled me so? 'He didn't do it, you know'?"

"He didn't," the thief agreed, all amusement fading from his face to be replaced by a blank mask that did nothing to hide the startling fury behind the sharp indigo eyes. "I saw the whole thing. It was someone who used my father's techniques to look like Kudo."

"Ah." The scientist nodded. "And you know who did it?"

"I saw their face." The thief replied edgily.

"Enough to recognise 'em at a later date?"

Hattori Heiji abruptly found himself looking down the barrel of a card gun. He slowly raised his hands, a bead of sweat sliding down the back of his neck. That was probably not the smartest move he could have made, he mentally reviewed.

The Kid paused for a moment, then smoothly put the gun back where it had been as quickly as he had taken it out. "Sorry," the thief apologized, his tone and expression neutrally blank. "I'm a bit jumpy at the moment."

"Understandable," the Kansai detective agreed, pushing himself off of the doorframe he'd been resting against to walk in. Seeing someone killed would do that, and surprising an edgy thief probably wasn't one of his best ideas. There had been no known record of the Kid hurting anyone, but Heiji wasn't about to push his luck.

Sensing the underlying hostility, Agasa-hakase faded into the background.

"How's the Shrimp doing?" the Kid inquired.

One of Heiji's eyebrows rose at the question. Kudo had complained in the past about the thief knowing who he really was, but he hadn't quite believed it. "'Neechan's currently usin' him as a teddy bear. Partly for comfort, partly so that he stops shoutin' at the reporters comin' to their door. He was startin' to edge towards the soccer balls."

A proud grin spread across the thief's face. "Good for him."

"You said that you saw what happened?" he asked, bringing the subject back to the topic at hand.

The grin faded once again from the Kid's face, to be replaced by a more cautious expression. "I did."

"Then we can clear Kudo!" He beamed "All you have to do-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," the thief held his hands up, stalling the teenage detective. "In case you hadn't noticed, 'Police' and 'Phantom Thief' do NOT go together. As fond as I am of the modern Sherlock Holmes, I am not going -anywhere- near the cops!"

Heiji gave him a dark scowl, definitely not pleased by that announcement. There was also something rather odd about the statement that set off warning bells.

Agasa-hakase cleared his throat, catching the attention of both teens. "Kid-kun, would you sit down with Heiji-kun and explain things from the beginning, please?" he requested pleasantly, motioning for them to sit down on the lab stools. There was more to the request than met the eye, Heiji sensed. "I'll go make us some hot chocolate in the meantime."

The thief shot the scientist a disbelieving look.

"Just how you got involved in Shin'ichi-kun's current mess, if you would. I think he would find it immensely helpful in a case of his own," Agasa-hakase assured him. "You don't have to tell him how you became the Kid if you don't wish."

Kid shrugged. "It's your head."

"Maa, maa." Agasa-hakase made a reassuring gesture. "Heiji-kun, please don't arrest Kid-kun while he's a guest in my house. Kid-kun, play nice with Heiji-kun." With that, he slipped out of the door, shutting it behind him.

"I always play nice," the Kid grumbled, taking up a perch on a counter top that just happened to conveniently lie within some shadows that helped to obscure what features the hat and monocle did not. "-and there had better be marshmallows for this!"

Heiji snorted, grabbing one of the computer chairs in the room, and turning it around to straddle it. Marshmallows. Right. As if Kudo being framed for murder wasn't weird enough, Agasa-hakase and the Kid certainly were. "Alright. Just how did you and Hakase become such good friends anyway?"

"Long story." the Kid flicked his wrist, a small round crystal about the size of a tennis ball appearing in his hand. He played with it almost idly, rolling the ball around his hands and between his fingers in ways that appeared to defy gravity and the laws of physics. "Which can be summed thusly."

The Osaka detective nodded, frown gracing his features as he stretched out his legs and got comfortable.

"Agasa-hakase has known the Kid for longer than you'd probably believe," the Kid began, the clear sphere flowing from hand to hand like a crystal water droplet. "Trading gadgets for information and assistance, much like he does with Kudo now. Nothing illegal, mind you. So when Kudo's *ahem* -small- problem came up, he naturally turned to me for help."

"With what?" Heiji frowed suspiciously.

One deep cerulean eye peeked out from under the brim of the white hat. "You don't honestly think that the paperwork allowing 'Edogawa Conan' to go to school and function as a normal member of society appeared by magic, do you?"

"Err..." He hadn't quite thought of that.

The thief chuckled. "Forgery isn't my specialty, mind you. I ended up having to take a peek at Kudo's records to make sure I got them right. That's when I discovered something odd, which is what I'm figuring Agasa-hakase wants you to know about. Some of Kudo's records were incomplete. Nothing big; the hospital that he was supposedly born at had no records of him, there's no physical proof that he was born at all, that sort of thing. When I did a little bit more digging, I found two more people with records like that."

Heiji frowned, alarm bells going off in his head. "Three."

"Hmm?"

"Grand total of four people," he clarified. "You're missin' one."

The Kid gave him a knowing look that made the Osaka detective feel decidedly uncomfortable. "Get on with your story," he growled, eyes narrowing in a defensive glare.

Kid shrugged gamely. "Not much to tell. I did the forgeries and been keeping an eye on the on the ones I found ever since."

"And this has to do with Kudo's setup... how?"

"It doesn't," Agasa-hakase confirmed, walking into the room with three cups of steaming hot chocolate and a plate of brownies. "But unless I'm missing the mark, it's very similar to another story, ne Heiji-kun?"

Heiji's features came down in a deep scowl. Way too familiar. He'd only told the scientist about a private case he was working on when he reached a complete and utter frustrating dead end. Agasa-hakase occasionally picked up random bits of information that came in handy, and he had promised to send any information his way - but this wasn't quite what he had in mind when he had asked for help. "Ya mean he knows about-?"

"Bits and pieces. From his own experience." Agasa-hakase smiled into his moustache again, holding the tray up to the thief. The crystal ball vanished as the Kid gave the treats a quick once-over before reaching for a steaming mug of hot chocolate.

"Haibara didn't make the brownies, did she?" he asked warily.

"They're from Ran-kun," the scientist assured him. "I hid them from Ai-kun this afternoon, so you don't have to worry about them. And I'm afraid we're out of marshmallows; she's watching what I eat again."

The Kid laughed and eagerly took one of the large brownies, grinning like a child with a special treat as he dunked it into the hot cocoa and took a bite.

Agasa-hakase chuckled, bringing the tray over to Heiji. "He doesn't like to admit it, but he's got a weak spot for chocolate that's gotten him into trouble a few times," he whispered to the other boy, sounding much like a fond uncle. "Ai-kun's snuck a few nasties into the sweets before."

"Ah." Heiji nodded in confusion. He wasn't exactly sure what to make of sitting down and having a snack with a thief he was pretty sure he was supposed to be arresting, but he was pretty sure that there were worse things he could be doing.

"Why'd you want me to tell him about that?" Kid asked suspiciously, even as he looked more at ease then he had a right to as he devoured the treat.

"Heiji-kun has some information on that particular mystery that you may find useful." The usually absent-minded looking professor had a knowing gleam in his eye. "And since you claim not to be a detective-" the thief made a face, affirming the statement, "-the information should more than make up for your lack of 'deduction' abilities."

"Oi." Heiji shot a glare at Agasa-hakase. "What's in it for me? By all rights, I should be bustin' his butt for even bein' in public in that ridiculous outfit."

A frosty glare the Phantom Thief shot him made him reel backwards a bit in surprise, sweatdropping again. Open mouth, insert foot...

Agasa-hakase ignored the silent interplay, calmly sipping his hot chocolate. "I'm proposing a truce," he announced. "Heiji-kun tells Kid-kun about that case-" a stern look in his direction, "-and Kid-kun tells Heiji-kun what happened to clear Shin'ichi-kun's name." Another stern look, but this time in the Kid's direction.

The Kid was silent, an introspective look on his face while he thoughtfully chewed on a bite of brownie. "I don't like this," he finally announced, speaking slowly. "There's too much at stake for things to go wrong now, but..." he trailed off, an almost protective gleam in his hard gaze as he looked at Heiji squarely. "I'm in."

Heiji had to admit that he didn't like this either. Working with a wanted thief rubbed him the wrong way, but on the other hand, he didn't have any other leads to clear Kudo either. All of his other tips had fizzled out, which was what brought him to Agasa-hakase's in the first place. He was between a rock and a hard place.

"Alright," he agreed. "Truce. For now. But as soon as we've got whoever did this, all bets are off and I'm trackin' you down."

The Kid smirked mockingly back.

Agasa-hakase sweatdropped. "Oi, oi..." he looked between the two grinning teenagers before sighing, realizing that there probably wasn't a way around the clashing of egos. "Heiji-kun, if you would start from the beginning?" he requested, looking grateful for the distraction at hand.

"Right." The Osaka-jin leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs, resting the mug of cocoa in his hands between his knees. "A few months back, I started ta get a little curious about some things that just didn't seem to fit. Primarily the fact I've never seen pictures of my Grandfather, whom I supposedly get my dark colourin' from. A little diggin' showed that there weren't any baby pictures either. There were a few of 'Kaasan pregnant, but none of her in the hospital."

"Let me guess," the Kid commented, not exactly unkindly, his legs tucked up on a stool rung in a relaxed manner. "You're adopted."

"And then some." He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. Even though it had been several months since he'd found out, it still felt like a raw wound in his side. It didn't help that he was telling his most guarded secret to a thief either. The things he did for Kudo... "I discovered a book in my father's drawers, a journal written by his brother. Never knew Oton had a brother before. Turns out he never mentioned it cause while he joined the Force, his brother joined a criminal syndicate. But the real shock was when I started readin' it..."

He trailed off again, gathering his thoughts. The Kid was thankfully quiet as he did so, watching him with too-wise eyes under the brim of his hat.

"Oton's brother went by the code name 'Tequila', in a crime syndicate you may be familiar with. They wear all black." He finally commented.

"The same ones who shrunk Kudo?" Kid queried.

He gave a short jerk of his head, motioning towards Agasa-hakase. "We think so. No evidence yet, they hide themselves pretty well."

Kid nodded, saying nothing.

"Shin'ichi-kun's predicament was the by-product of looking for ways to create immortality," Asaga-hakase supplied. "Not that you would know anything about something like that, would you Kid-kun?"

The Kid flashed a too-innocent grin. "Me? Never..."

Heiji squirreled this tidbit of information in the back of his head to muse over later. "Before they could work on creatin' eternal life, they did experiments on -creatin'- life," he continued. "Genetic human constructs, from the DNA on up. Created ta be the reincarnations of some of the greatest literary minds ever created. The first being Sherringford Holmes, the predecessor to the Sherlock Holmes we're more familiar with."

The thief's eyes practically -glowed- at the information, and Heiji realized with a jolt that the Kid was probably much more familiar with the case than he was telling.

"There was some sort of flaw in Sherringford, they forgot somethin' essential when programming the intellect. That was to be expected, which is why they started out with Sherringford. Then they began work on Sherlock Holmes, only to have somethin' un-expected happen. The cells didn't divide up like they were supposed to, but split into a two separate entities. Twins."

"Twins?!" Kid's eyes widened a fraction, his skin turning a few shades paler.

"Identical twins," he confirmed, noting the odd reaction. "In a pique of humour, for lack of a better term, they turned one into Sherlock Holmes, and the other into Arséné Lupin, sort of a yin-yang type of thing. The most famous detective and thief as twins..." He narrowed his eyes at the thief, a small click falling to place in the back of his head. The Kid looked to be roughly their age as well, now that he was able to look at him somewhat up close.

"Oi, roll up your right sleeve a second, will ya?" he requested.

The Kid shot him a blank look, his mouth full of brownie. "Bwah?"

"Each of the experiments has a similar distinctive scar." He pulled back the sleeve on his right arm, showing off a scar that looked like a hook or an upside down question mark on the back of it, about half the length of his thumb. "Looks like that."

An eyebrow rose as deft gloved fingers undid the buttons on the jacket sleeve and dress shirt of the thief's right arm. "Nope." The Kid raised it in the air, not offering to come any closer as he rotated the arm at the elbow to show the un-blemished skin of his forearm. "No scar there."

So much for that theory. He shrugged. "After the sudden appearance of the other twin, they decided ta make one last back-up in the batch, Ellery Queen. Evidently they didn't like Peroit's stuffy attitude."

"Wasn't Ellery Queen two people?" Kid inquired, buttoning up his sleeve again. "A father-son team?"

"Uh, yeah..." He blinked, taken back. Ellery Queen was not a topic of conversation he ever thought he would have with a thief.

"What?" the Kid grinned, almost the mocking smirk he was famous for. "Thieves aren't supposed to read detective novels?"

Agasa-hakase covered up a snicker with his cup of cocoa.

"Um... anyway.... Back to Tequila..." He shook his head; this wasn't the time to get distracted. "He may have been workin' for the Syndicate as one of the major baddies, but evidently somethin' about creatin' and playin' with life rubbed him the wrong way. Near as I can figure he had a weakness for children, and didn't want to see kids raised in that kind of environment. So he went to his brother, who was still just a cop at the time and made a deal to smuggle the kids out. He'd have them raised by extraordinary couples that didn't or couldn't have kids of their own."

"Such as Kudo Yuusaku and Yukiko." Kid grinned. "Bet they disappeared and travelled around so much that no one would be able to tell if she was pregnant before or not."

"Actually, they had a coupla months ta pull it off and prepare." He smirked back. "Humans aren't created overnight, especially not with the materials they had then. It's a freakin' miracle that they were able to accomplish what they did at that time."

"True." Agasa-hakase nodded, looking nostalgic.

"Anyway, Mom had been pregnant, but lost the baby before it was born. So they adopted me when they had the chance, and I guess Kudo went to his folks, so my problem now is that I haven't a clue where the other two ended up." Heiji sighed, reaching up to fiddle with his cap. "It wasn't written down, for fear that someone besides one of the kids found it. So I don't know who or how they're doin'."

"I know who they are," Kid said quietly, looking into his hot chocolate, as if contemplating something. He glanced up, sharp violet eyes catching his for moment, as if weighing him in their depths. "They're both doing well, driving everyone around them crazy. Rather like you and Kudo actually, top of the class and everything."

Heiji's green eyes peered back. "You're not gonna tell me who they are, are you?" he questioned with a sinking feeling. So close, yet so far.

The Kid sparkled back. "Maybe later!" he winked. "Have to keep some aces up my sleeves, you know."

"Right." Stupid thief. He made a mental note to either get the information from the thief or to kick his ass before this was over. "Oton and Tequila went their separate ways again after the kids made it safely to their new homes. There was a quiet uproar at the syndicate as well, but somehow they managed to trick 'em into thinkin' that all four infants died, so Tequila was never suspected. Our Kudo met him shortly after his -small- problem arose, just long enough to see him get blown to smithereens by a bomb, so Tequila's a dead end."

The Kid opened his mouth, then shut it, most likely biting his tongue on a comment. "Anything else?" he asked diplomatically.

Heiji shrugged, not feeling very forthcoming at the moment. He'd fulfilled his end of the bargain anyway.

The thief nodded, then flipped the last of his brownie in the air and caught it in his mouth with a pleased snap of teeth. "Then I guess we'd best get down to the business of clearing Kudo's name before the squirt has a heart attack. If he hasn't already."

"Not yet."

"Good." Kid seemed pleased. "What do you need to know?"

"Everythin'. Any and every little detail."

"Detail, huh?" The Kid looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, I'm not much of a storyteller-" Heiji got the feeling that was likely a lie or at least a vast understatement "-or a detective, but I AM a showman. You know where 'Kudo' killed the victim?"

"Yeah...." he replied warily.

"Great." the Kid hopped off the stool with cat-like grace. "I'll meet you on the rooftop above the scene. Half an hour enough time?"

"Wait, what are you up to?" He rose as well, just in case the thief made a break for it. He doubted he was as fast or agile as the slippery Kid, but he was sure that his kendo skills could amount to something.

The Kid beamed in response. "I'm going to do you one better."

He blinked. That was... new. "I'd really prefer if we went together then." He scowled, fighting un-ease in the pit of his stomach. "I don't want you out of my sight."

"Afraid I'm going to run off before fulfilling my end of the bargain?" Kid teased. Agasa-hakase sweatdropped and held up a hand to try to forestall the upcoming argument.

"Exactly."

The thief raised an eyebrow. "It's not like I can just go walking around on the street like this," he pointed out.

"You are a master of disguise, are you not?"

"You WANT me to dress in drag?"

Heiji blinked again, not quite how to respond to that one.

"Maa, maa..." Agasa-hakase stepped between them. "Heiji-kun, Kid-kun will keep his end of the deal-"

"It's okay, Hakase," Kid cut him off with a slightly bittersweet but still friendly grin. "Honour of Thieves and all that, right?"

"Kid-kun..." Agasa-hakase looked sad at the comment.

Kid winked, and pulled a white card out of mid-air. "Here. Will this be enough insurance for you?" A pen appeared the same way and the kaitou leaned over a desk to scribble on it before handing it to him.

Heiji took the card and looked it over. It matched the description of a typical Kid Note, right down to the grinning figure in the corner, stating plainly that the Kid would meet 'one Hattori Heiji' tonight on a rooftop above the crime scene at 23:53.

The Kid had yet to miss arriving for one of his notes, even if sometimes the meaning of his notes was obscure enough to confuse people. "Yeah..." he said slowly, pocketing the note. He was sure that there was a way for the thief to worm his way out of it, but he couldn't spot any tricks in the wording.

"Good," the Kid smiled, all cheerful again. "I'm counting on your Detectives' Code of Honour, or what ever you want to call it, that you won't be tipping anyone off to my appearance. While I -do- enjoy a challenge, in this case it would be counter-productive for both of us."

"I'll keep my end." Heiji growled gruffly. "Just keep yours."

"Heh." Kid saluted them, turning to head for the window. "See you later, Hakase!" He called cheerfully; ignoring the fierce glare the detective was shooting him. "I'll ask Mom about those fat-free brownies, okay?"

"Thank you, Kid-kun! Take care!" Agasa-hakase waved back at the thief vanished into the night, like the phantom that was his namesake.

Heiji snorted and turned to walk out the door. "He's not a bad person, Heiji-kun." Agasa-hakase informed him, following.

"I figured that much," Heiji sighed, his shoulders slumping as the scientist escorted him out. It was rather hard to reconcile that with the fact that for all intents and purposes, he was supposed to be catching the thief instead of making friends with him. The whole situation was making him nervous. "Tell Kudo that sometime," he grumbled, taking protection in surliness. "He's gonna throw a shit-fit when he finds out the Kaitou Kid is a frequent visitor to your house."

"Infrequent," Agasa-hakase corrected absentmindedly. "But I doubt he would complain about the gizmos he has, eh?"

"Huh?" Heiji blinked.

"Where do you think I got the idea for a voice changer in the first place?" Agasa-hakase winked. "Or the sleeping darts? And Kid-kun was nice enough to help me out with both of those; I never would have gotten the range of voices so quickly otherwise. And he donated the first batch of sleeping serum before I figured out my own."

"You're sayin' that Kudo's detective devices-"

"Were modified off the Kid, yes. He's very creative." Agasa-hakase sighed lustfully. "You should see the things his father used to come up with. Flamboyant, but they worked so very well in unexpected ways..."

Heiji stared at the scientist as if he had just found out that the absent-minded doctor was an alien from outer space. Not only had the doctor been a friend of the Kaitou Kid -for two generations- but the Kid himself was helping the detectives from behind the scenes!

"Oh, don't look so surprised Heiji-kun." Agasa-hakase cheerfully scolded. "This may come as a shock, but you don't know -everything-. And Kid-kun is really a nice boy doing the best he can in some tough situations. Lighten up! Who knows? You may get a friend out of it."

Agasa-hakase patted him on the back and ushered him out of the house, barely giving him time to slip his sneakers on before firmly shutting the door behind him.

Belatedly, Heiji realized that neither of them had asked that he not pass on word of just what Agasa-hakase was doing...

Yet at the same time, he realized that he probably wouldn't anyway.

***

"Question for you." The moonlit clad thief spoke without glancing backwards as Heiji made his way across the roof. The thief had a foot propped up on the edge of the rooftop, looking down at the crime scene below, where policemen were still wandering around and fending off reporters.

"What kinda question?" Heiji asked back suspiciously, walking over to the roof's edge, but far enough away so that they both felt 'safe'.

"The other three... what do you call them?" The Kid's voice held friendly curiosity.

"Huh?"

"Well, you are all from the same experiment, right? So doesn't that make you all related to each other or something?" the Kid asked, turning slightly to face him, the monocle catching the light and glowing like a deamon's eye. "Brothers, cousins, half-siblings, not at all?"

"Well..." He paused, thinking it over. The thief had a point. He'd been thinking of the other three as 'family', but hadn't given them a name past that. "Kudo and whoever Lupin is are definitely brothers. They're twins, ya can't get much closer than that. But as far as the others... If we'd been brought up together, then I think we'd be brothers. But with everyone having different parents now and all, I guess I'd call us cousins."

"Cousins..." The Kid appeared to roll the word around in his head, enjoying the sound of it. He grinned, an actual happy expression instead of the smug smirk he seemed to always have. "I'm sure they'll be glad to hear that." Kid beamed. Heiji blinked, surprised by the response. The thief seemed rather pleased about it.

A little too pleased. Suspicion rose in the back of his mind. "As long as we're askin' questions, here's one for you."

An eyebrow rose. "Oh?"

"Just why do you seem to follow Kudo around anyway? Most people barely catch a glimpse of you once, even if they're followin' you around and yet he's run into you what, three times now? And you've masqueraded as both Ran and Mouri. Kind of makes one wonder."

"Four if you count when he was still himself," the Kid corrected with a slight grin. "And as my dearly departed father told me, 'When in front of an audience, never sneeze or get angry, -know your enemies,- and never forget Poker Face.'"

"He's an enemy?"

"Well, he's something alright..." the Kid grinned, then let out a chuckle, shooting him a rueful grin that made him look almost human. "You're dangerous, you know that? Got that whole 'tell me anything, I won't tell a soul' feeling around you. No wonder Kudo trusts you with his secrets. Few minutes with you and you already know more than the Bird-brain does."

Heiji blinked, surprised by the compliment. "Bird-brain?" He echoed.

"How good are you at sneaking?" Kid asked, abruptly ignoring the question as he straightened up, the cool facade slipping back into place as it if had never left.

"Uh... decent. Why?"

The Kid grinned, somehow appearing to vanish without moving. "Meet you down in the alley. If you can make it."

Heiji blinked, and he was alone. "Dammit!"

***

Heiji felt the hairs on the back of his neck prick up. The alleyway was dark and cold, illuminated by the dim glow of the lights on the street and the flashing of the lone police car still blocking entrance from rubberneckers. "Kid?" he hissed, just under his breath, mentally cursing himself. This Was Not Good. What the hell was he doing, sneaking into a crime scene, just to meet an internationally wanted criminal? The thief could easily have ditched him here in the shadows, or alert the officers to his trespassing. He somehow doubted they'd appreciate his help.

There wasn't much in the alley. There were lots of footmarks in the dust of the street, most likely the police officers, and the tape outlines of the where the body had fallen still lay there. He leaned over and inspected it, mindful of the dark puddle of dried blood that still clung to the ground. Not much information for him to analyse.

A footstep behind him caused him to jump slightly, and slowly rise. Someone was walking towards him, concealed in the shadows. "Kid?" He breathed, eyes narrowing to peer into the shadows. It was male, and by their outline, not one of the uniformed officers. A detective perhaps?

The person got closer and the bottom of Heiji's gut nearly fell out as his eyes went wide in surprise. "k-Kudo?! What are you doin' here?!"

The other teenager moved into a lighter patch of light and his brain informed him that there was no way that it could be Kudo back to his proper size. Who ever it was moving stiffly, taking short brisk strides, while Kudo usually had a longer, lanky walk. The expression was all wrong as well.

Not Kudo then. "Kid?"

The Kudo look-alike looked at him, an almost sad expression on his face as he pulled a gun out of the jacket pocket. "Sorry about this." He apologized in a voice lighter than Kudo's as he levelled the gun towards Heiji's chest.

'Oh shit, oh shitohshitshitshit-' He had just enough time to mentally curse blindly following the thief here before the finger on the trigger twitched, sending a projectile speeding towards him.

He flinched as he was hit in the chest once, then again. Silence filled the alley as his blood buzzed in his ears and he realized he wasn't dead. He blinked, muscles slowly unclenching as he looked down to find two velcro tipped foam darts clinging to his shirt, one hanging right were his heart was.

The tape outline of the woman's body lay at his feet like a gory shadow. Oh... shit.

The Kudo look-alike continued walking, picking up the pace as he passed him and continued into the darker parts of the alley, staggering a bit as if blinded. Feeling very, very cold, as if he were full of ice water, Heiji followed him, his own feet unsteady as he moved.

'Kudo' paid no attention to him as he continued down the alleys, taking a few twists and turns. Somehow they managed to avoid any patrolling cops or other late-night walkers, be it a miracle or meticulous planning.

A few blocks away, the fake Kudo stumbled into a dark patch of shadows, seeming to disappear again. There were some muffled noises from inside, and for some reason, Heiji got the feeling of the person putting a disguise -on- instead of taking one off.

"I'm afraid here is where it gets a little blurry." The Kid's voice apologised from the shadow and he startled a bit.

"What the hell didja think ya were doin'?!" He demanded, taking refuge in anger to cover the fright he had felt, still felt, coursing through his veins. "And ya shot me!"

"I told you I wasn't much of a storyteller," the Kid admonished, stepping back into the lighter area of the alley, causing him to nearly do a double take. "But I am one -hell- of a showman."

For one thing, the Kid was now female. And about fifteen years older. Round face, medium length reddish hair and brown eyes. Probably working class, Heiji analysed. A shopping bag held in one arm most likely carried the weapon and 'Kudo' disguise. "I'm afraid I didn't hear her speak, but this is what they looked like when I saw them again."

It was down right disturbing hearing the Kid's voice coming out of a woman's body. He even had nylons on. He didn't want to think about what else the Kid was probably wearing to pull that disguise off.

"Did you get the information you need?" The thief's voice was curious, just tinted with humour.

"Ahou!" He lunged toward the thief, grabbing a fist full of collar and pulling the Kid towards him so that they were nose to nose. Getting shot, sneaking into a crime scene, risking arrest, for THAT? "What the hell were ya thinkin'?!"

Someone cleared their throat behind them and he had a moment of foreboding doom. "Seigen-san!!" A drunkenly slurred voice called. "Whadda doin' here?"

Kid blinked. Heiji blinked. They looked up to see several men dressed in business suits of various disarray. They didn't look happy to see what appeared to be a teenage punk harassing their female friend. Kid chuckled nervously.

"It's not what it looks like," Heiji said quickly, releasing his grip on the Kid, suddenly overly conscious of the realization that the thief was wearing a bra, which was full and it jiggled a bit under that blouse. He held his hands up in an appeasing gesture, taking a step back.

The men swept past him, dragging 'Seigen-san' along with them as they headed off to another bar to soothe the supposed woman's nerves with a drink, shooting death glares at him the entire time. Kid meekly went with them, his voice low and soft as he nodded and went along with them.

It wasn't until after they'd disappeared from view that Heiji realized that the Kid had managed to escape from him.

"Dammit!"

Heiji took off running after them. They didn't get very far, the first bar he ducked his head into he could see them talking. The Kid, still in his disguise, sat in their midst pouring drinks for them with a demure air.

He frowned, walking in and lightly rapped the thief on top of the head with his knuckles. "Oi."

The Kid looked up, the wig sliding backwards, red strands catching slighting on Heiji's fingers before falling off completely.

Chaos erupted around them.

***

The Kid lay flat on his back on top of the rooftop, his arms stretched out as if to embrace the sky, and laughed his head off.

On his left, Heiji did the same, his hat pushed forward over his eyes obscuring his view. "I can't believe..." he snickered, "we did that."

"What? Get into a bar fight?" Kid not-quite giggled. "Or escape before the cops arrive?"

The Osaka boy waved a hand around, laughing easily. "Everythin'! Do ya do this often?"

"Not if I can help it. Although..." The Kid's grin grew fond "This was -nothing- compared to some of the Kaitou Kid Task Force parties. THEY know how to party hard."

"You go to those?"

"Why not?"

He opened his mouth to retort and ended up laughing instead. It made sense, in a twisted sort of fashion. It was being held in the thief's honour anyway. He changed the subject "That still was pretty funny though. The look on that one guys face..."

They started snickering again. It was rare that someone turned that shade of green so fast. But attempting to hit the kaitou for it had been a bit much. Even if the Kid had dodged.

Resulting in the table they'd been sitting at to flip, launching its contents across the room.

The resulting brawl had been short, but long enough for some fists to fly and some major chaos, during which the Kid had grabbed him and taken off running. Which had been a good thing, all things considered.

"Thanks for the assist, by the way." Heiji grinned.

"Welcome," the Kid snickered. "Not sure I should thank you for 'upholding my honour' or not."

Heiji snickered again. Shouting 'It's not nice to hit a lady!' while cramming some nearby wasabi and slightly squished sushi down a guys shirt had been highly entertaining.

The two of them relaxed a moment more, waiting for the adrenaline rush and the snickers to fade before moving on.

After a while, the Kid sighed, holding up his left arm with dry amusement. There was a slice halfway up his forearm, causing the sleeve to almost fall off his arm. "Great. Looks like I get to do some sewing tonight."

Heiji chuckled, reaching over to lazily flick the draping fabric with a finger. "At least it's a clean cut."

"I guess-" Kid was cut off in mid-sentence as Heiji suddenly grabbed his arm, so tight it most likely hurt as he sat up to peer into the thief's face. "What?!" Kid snapped irritably, sitting up as well, the hat shadowing his face once more.

"You said you didn't have the scar!" Heiji accused hotly, jabbing a finger at the pale mark in the thief's skin.

"I said I didn't have the scar on my other arm," the Kid retorted, yanking his arm out of the Osaka-jin's grasp and rising to his feet. "I never said I didn't have it."

"Then you... you..." Heiji stammered as he rose as well. Pieces clicked and fell into place. "You're the one based off of Lupin!"

The Kid stayed silent as he glanced away, the granite-like expression on his face was more than enough evidence for the detective. "This is great!" Heiji exclaimed, a grin splitting his face. "Kudo's twin! He's gonna flip!"

This time the Kid grabbed the Detective's arm in an unshakeable grasp. "You can -not- tell him." The words were flat, but a sense of urgency from the dark eyes drew Heiji up short.

"What?!" Heiji looked at him in shock. "He's your BROTHER! Why wouldn't you want him to know?"

"Think about it!" the Kid growled, defensive and uncomfortable with the topic. "How did you react when you found out?!"

Heiji froze, recalling the feeling of betrayal, his whole world flipped around, not knowing who he was anymore, or even if anyone mattered at all.

"Would you deny him the one thing that has remained stable in his life?" the Kid asked softly, releasing his grip on him. "Since his first incident with the men in the black suits, he still knew that his parents were his family, even when everything else has been turned on its ear. Take that away and..." He trailed off, obviously not wanting to continue that train of thought.

"Ah, it doesn't matter anyway." The Kid let out a deep sigh, dismissing it with a wave of his hand, his voice light and airy again. "When you get right down to it, he's a tantei, and I'm a kaitou. His code of ethics won't allow him to do anything other than his best to catch me, regardless of any other circumstances, same as you. Besides, what am I supposed to do? Lead him on a merry battle of wits then at the climatic head of it confess-"

He took a deep breath, as if straining to breathe through a machine as he posed, on hand out in front of him as if beckoning. "-Kudo... I am your brother..."

The Kid did a fair impression of Darth Vader, Heiji noted as a bead of sweat slid down the back of his head. "That's true..." He admitted. "This... is gonna take some time to absorb..." It rubbed him the wrong way, keeping family from each other. But at the same time, the Kid had a valid point. He certainly illustrated it with his own less than trusting behaviour in the past several hours.

"That's fine." The Kid waved it off, taking a deep breath, the cold mask Heiji had seen at the beginning settling over his features again. "It's late, or early, depending on your perspective and our business deal has been concluded. So I shall wish you a good day and pleasant dreams." The white clad thief moved towards the rooftop, fastening a belt around his waist as he did so.

"Kid, just a moment." Heiji frowned, brows coming down over his eyes. "Please."

The thief paused a moment, one hand on the trigger that probably activated the glider.

"Our deal has been concluded," he said cautiously, "but I'd like to strike a new agreement."

"A new agreement?" The Kid looked faintly surprised.

He shrugged, a faint grin growing across his face. "Well, we're after the same thing, aren't we? To find out more about our family?"

The Kid was so still, so silent, for a moment Heiji was afraid he'd read him wrong. Then softly, "Family?"

"What I'm thinkin' is this..." He shoved his hands in his pockets, relaxing now that he knew he had the thief's attention. "You help me get Kudo off the hook, I'll share any information I get about our... cousins. And vice versa."

A hand reached up and fiddled with the brim of the hat. "A temporary truce?"

"At least on this?" He realized that his voice had taken on a bit of a begging tone, but ignored it. Family was Family, even if the circumstances were bizarre. He at least wanted the chance to know this mercurial cousin. And from what he had picked up while at Agasa-hakase's, family was equally important to the Kid. "We can do a trial run until Kudo is clear."

Kid nodded, pulling the hat lower. "Deal." A small smile seemed to flicker across his face. "Where do you want to meet tomorrow night? You'll have to pardon me if I don't give you a way to contact me during the day."

"You need your beauty sleep anyway." He smirked back. "With looks like Kudo and all."

The Kid snorted, and Heiji couldn't quite tell if he was amused by the comment or not so he let it slide. "Agasa-hakase's okay, just after dark? Neutral territory and we can pass information on through him. Also that way we can change locations if needed."

"Sounds fair," the Kid mused. "But if anything seems out of place, I'm gone."

"Agreed." He was rather surprised and pleased by the fact that the skittish thief had agreed to meet again at all. "Hey, just in case it comes up, is it okay if I tell Kudo that we're workin' together on this?"

The Phantom Thief paused, as if surprised by the question. Finally he shrugged fatalistically. "Really doesn't matter, he'll probably find out eventually. Your call. Just keep any possible reasons for my doing so out of it." There was steel in the tone that brooked no argument there. "That's between myself and... my brother."

"I don't like keepin' him in the dark about this, y'know." Heiji commented "But if I can keep Kudo's secrets, I guess I can keep yours. Fer now anyway."

"Hmph." The other boy snorted. He brushed the tip of his hat in salute, then tossed himself off the building, the glider snapping open and carrying him away.

A grin split across Heiji's face as he watched the thief glide away. "Doesn't mean I won't tease you about it... cousin."

***

"Heya, Kudo." Heiji grinned, leaning over the small detective, who was curled up on the sofa. Ran was most likely in her room upstairs, and he could hear Mouri-san snoring even from downstairs, leaving the smallest member standing watch, so to speak. "How's it goin'?"

Deep-set tired eyes, dull from weariness answered his question more eloquently than words could have. "Tell me you have a lead."

"Better than that." He grinned, eager to share his good news. "I have a witness who not only saw the whole thin', but them takin' off the makeup and what they really look like."

"Really?" Kudo lit up like a light bulb. "That's GREAT! All we have to do is take him to Megure-keibu and have him go through the-"

Heiji cleared his throat. "It's not quite that simple."

"Huh?" Confusion replaced euphoria on the young-old face.

He scratched the back of his neck, causing his hat to slide up and down on his head and sighed. "The problem is, I can't take them into the police."

"Why not?" Kudo's brows came down in a puzzled frown. "Don't tell me it was a dog."

"No, it wasn't a dog..." Somehow, he got the feeling that the Kid would take offense to be being called a dog. Cat might be okay, but not a dog.

"Can't take to the police, not an animal..." Kudo's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before his head jerked up to look at him in the face. "Who is it?" He demanded.

Heiji sweatdropped. Damn, he'd forgotten just how much alike he and Kudo thought... He -couldn't- keep a secret from the other detective, he'd be able to deduce it in a matter of time.

The Kid was Kudo's twin... did that mean they'd end up being able to know what the other was thinking as well? "Maa maa... Relax, Kudo. It's not that bad." He chuckled, trying to calm down his friend.

"Hattori." For being in such a small body, Kudo's growl was exceptionally dangerous sounding, especially when impatient and worried. "Who. Is. It?"

He sighed, already knowing he wasn't going to take this well. "The Kaitou Kid."

"KID?!" Kudo's voice was almost a yelp. "Hattori, are you INSANE?! How the heck did you-"

"Shhhh!" he hissed. Jeez, the last thing they needed was for Kudo's caterwauling to wake up Kogoro... "He volunteered, alright? He's got information I don't have and I have information he doesn't have, so we're trackin' them down together."

"Thieves don't just 'volunteer'," Kudo growled, his high voice pitched low. "And you're a Detective, Hattori! You don't make deals with wanted criminals!"

"I know that!" he snapped back, even as he felt a sweatdrop slide down the back of his head. Between Agasa-hakase's and finding out that the Kid was related, it had sort of slipped his mind that the Kid was also an internationally wanted criminal. Heck, he'd even begun to enjoy the thief's company, at least for a little while there...

"I don't get it." Kudo ran a hand through his bangs, looking like his head hurt to think so hard before looking at him with piercing eyes. "What does he get in exchange?"

"Exchange?" He shifted, hoping the other boy didn't notice his discomfort.

"People like him don't work without some sort of compensation," Kudo continued ruthlessly. "What was his price?"

"I told you." Heiji shot back defensively. "He volunteered."

"Hattori." Kudo caught his eye and they had a miniature clash of wills, Kudo demanding and he refusing. It was a losing battle, and he knew it. Dammit, and it did no good to lie anyway, Kudo'd just worry about it more until he got some information to sink his claws into.

"Aa." He broke contact first, glancing away, shaking his shoulders in a defensive gesture. "There's a price."

Kudo waited, not quite patiently.

"But... I can't tell you." he admitted slowly. "It's my price to pay, not yours."

"Hattori!"

"Dammit, Kudo! That IS the price!" Heiji snapped. "Yeah, I know why the Kid's doin' this, yeah, I know why he's keepin' an eye on you, yeah, I know the questions you're lookin' for, but I CAN'T TELL YOU WHAT THEY ARE!"

Kudo took a step back, his eyes wide, suddenly looking like the young child he appeared to be. "Hattori..."

He snorted, shoving his hands in his pockets as he glanced out the window as he attempted to reign in his temper.

The other detective sighed, reaching out and brushing the side of his jacket in a silent apology. He snorted and shot a small flash of a grin back. Apology accepted.

"What's your problem with the Kid anyway?" Heiji asked, in a calmer tone. He knew he had a short temper, but it usually cooled fairly quickly, given half a chance. "Yeah, he's a law-breaker, but he's not goin' around killing people either. And he's helped out before."

Kudo snorted, looking very weary and tired as he looked at the floor. "That's the problem right there. Most people think he's some sort of ghost, yet it's almost like he's following me sometimes. And He knows... He knows who I am, even impersonated me before, and I don't know how he knows or why..."

"And he hasn't told anyone either, has he?" He gave a sarcastic half chuckle. Kudo was afraid of his own brother. But he felt safe enough around him, who wasn't as closely related. Really, could this whole family relations thing get any more messed up?

Kid had also mentioned that he was keeping an eye on their other 'cousin'. Did that mean that their other cousin knew who Kid was under that monocle, possibly even helping him? Or were they in the dark as well, like Kudo? "And I thought I was having family problems before..." he muttered to himself, rubbing his eyes.

"Hattori?" Kudo's voice was concerned. He glanced down to see Kudo looking at him like he was seeing him for the first time in a while. "Is everything alright? You're looking a little worn down."

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine." He waved it off. "It's just been a long couple of weeks, y'know?"

"Why don't you crash on the sofa tonight?" Kudo motioned towards the now abandoned piece of furniture. "Unless you've got some more leads to follow tonight?"

"No, not until tomorrow." A yawn blindsided him, and suddenly the sofa was looking pretty good, even if he knew that it had a highly vindictive personality for sleeping on, taking great delight in jabbing things in his side. "Mind if I crash at your house? Don't really feel like havin' Kazuha track me down ta chew me out for runnin' over here again."

"Yeah, not a problem." The concerned/suspicious look didn't leave the smaller boy's eyes. "You know where the key is hidden, right?"

Back porch, second loose brick from the bottom on the left. "In my sleep." He nodded, turning towards the door. "See ya later, Kudo. Try to stay out of trouble this time, alright?"

"Yeah. You do the same, Hattori."

He waved at the still-standing figure behind him and opened the door, shutting it softly behind him. Man... he was beat. He really should have waited before springing that one on Kudo, but he needed to pass along the good news too...

"Heiji-kun?" A soft voice jolted him awake, and he glanced up to see Ran in a bathrobe standing on the stairs, looking worried. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, 'Neechan. Just great." He dredged up a smile for her. "Was just tellin' Ku-Conan-kun that I found a witness who can prove that Kudo didn't do it. Figured you could use some good news when you woke up."

She beamed at him, her face lighting up as it looked like a heavy weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "That's wonderful, Heiji-kun! Thank you!"

He shrugged it off. "Maa ne. He'd do the same for me." A yawn blind-sided him, causing him to pause until it was over. "Anyway, I'm off before I fall over. G'night, 'Neechan."

"Good night, Heiji-kun." She smiled softly.

He had just turned to leave again, when a gentle touch on his arm stopped him. He paused to find Ran standing next to him, her hand resting on his sleeve. "'Neechan?"

"I know... I know I'm not Kazuha. But if there's something bothering you, you do know you can talk to me, right?" she asked, warmth and sisterly concern radiating off her.

"Yeah..." He smiled at her, a real one this time, touched by her friendship. "Actually, I haven't even told Kazuha yet... the ahou's prolly worried about it too..." For a moment, he was half tempted to tell her. To tell someone who he -knew- was a friend, not just a white clad thief whose real name he didn't even know. He shrugged, laughing it off. "But it's nothin' really. I'll figure it out. Don't worry about it 'Neechan. Ya got enough to worry about with Kudo and all."

"Hmm..." She smiled, a tender one that he recognised as her thinking of Kudo. Stupid ahou was so lucky, and didn't even realise it... Moron. He should pound some sense into him.

... Later. He -was- tired. And he hadn't been kidding when he said it had been a long day.

Ran patted his arm, smiling for him. "Just so you long as you know that we're here for you too."

"I do. Thanks, 'Neechan."

"You're welcome, Heiji-kun." She smiled again, turning to head into the office, most likely to put 'Conan' to bed. He watched her disappear into the darkened room before heading down the stairs again.

Stupid ahou. The lot of them. Himself included.

***

"You told him, didn't you?" the Kid's voice was undemanding, neither disapproval nor approval in his demeanour and tone as Heiji stepped on to Agasa's roof. The thief was sitting on the edge, the wind catching his cape and tossing it around, making it look like there was a ghost trapped on the rooftop. "That I was helping you with the case."

"Yeah." He sighed, not looking at the Kid as he walked next to him, feeling the disappointment coil in his belly again. "It didn't go so well."

"Ah."

Heiji paused, turning to look at the poker faced teen. "Wait... how did you know that I told him?"

"In this case, it was written all over your face." A grin spread across the Kid's face. "You've got a good game face, but your poker face could use some work."

"Heh." The detective played with the brim of his hat for a moment before becoming serious again. "How come you're okay with this? He is your twin, after all, you can't get much closer than that."

The thief shrugged. "I think I expected it... Everything has its price, especially for knowledge and intelligence. For him, it's the secrecy and lies. For me, it's isolation." he paused, peering at the Osaka boy with wise eyes that appeared violet in the light. "Don't know what your price is yet. Perhaps your karma is balanced enough that you don't have to yet. You don't tend to trust to luck as much as my brother or I do."

"Karma, huh?" Heiji grinned. "Wouldn't strike ya as the mystic sort."

"Oh, I'm not," the Kid assured him with a light-hearted grin. "Prefer to make my own luck and all that. But sometimes it's nice to believe in something greater than ourselves."

Heiji felt the reassuring weight of the omamori Kazuha gave him around his neck, and found it hard to argue.

"How come you're so... relaxed about all this anyway?" Heiji grumped. "He's your twin and all that, and you're actin' like you're out on a moonlight stroll."

The Kid chuckled, stretching. "Two reasons for that, I think."

"And that would be-?"

"Well, for starters..." the Kid slowly bent at the waist, keeping his legs straight and leaned forward until his palms were flat on the ground. "I've known about this adoption thing longer than you have. I've had a bit more time to think about everything and adjust."

Hands firmly planted on the ground, Kid lifted his feet up into the air until he was doing a handstand, his cape falling around his head, the hat miraculously staying on. Heiji raised an eyebrow. "And the second reason?"

A grin made it's presence known through the concealing shadows and folds of fabric as the Kid then began to bend -backwards-, until his feet were back on the ground, in line with the back of his head, the tips of his fingers pointed towards his toes. His hat miraculously stayed on, touching the ground. "Magicians are extremely flexible."

Heiji's eyebrow rose as he gave a low whistle. "I'll say. Whoever ya end up marryin' is gonna be extremely lucky..."

A flash of blankness flickered across the thief's grinning face, and he realized that he had just said something wrong. "Sorry." He apologised, not quite sure what he was apologising for, but feeling the need to.

"No, don't worry about it." the Kid dismissed his worry, strenuously raising his feet back up into the air again, straightening his arms and torso. "I just have a friend too, you know." the Kid commented conversationally. "Like your Kazuha or Kudo's Ran-kun. She doesn't know either."

"To keep her safe?" Heiji ventured as the Kid's feet reached as high into the air as they could go, then his body folded down like a jack-knife, the tops of his shoes level with his head.

"More like self preservation, actually." The thief's tone turned wry as he shifted his grip on the rooftop to rotate his body down, like a gymnast on the high bars. "She'd like nothing more than to repeatedly take a blunt object to the Kid's head before throwing him in a deep dark cell and losing the key down a well."

"That's a good reason." Heiji admitted. The Kid's legs were now parallel to the ground, being held up by the strength of his arms. "Ya can't sit still much, can ya?" he commented, amused.

"Only when absolutely necessary." The Kid flashed him a grin. "Moving targets and all that."

He chuckled. "Alright, one more personal question and then ta work."

An amused suspicious eyebrow rose at the comment. "-one more personal question for the moment anyway." he amended with a sheepish grin.

"Fair enough."

"You call the former Kid your Father, but ya know you were adopted and created in the lab. Why?" It didn't make sense. The Kid seemed to be fond of the previous Phantom Thief, and he'd made comments to Agasa-hakase about his mother as well, without the slightest bit of hesitation.

The Kid looked surprised, then lifted his hands in the air to fall cross-legged on the ground with a muffled 'thump'. "You don't?" he asked, looking slightly puzzled.

"Ehh..." Heiji rubbed the back of his neck nervously and the Kid snorted.

"To me, my father is... well, my father." The Kid scratched the back of his head, tilting the brim of the top hat farther over his face. He reached up, and almost hesitantly removed the monocle that masked half his face. The shadows from the brim of the hat continued to obscure his features as he looked at the glass lens. "The man who raised me as his son is the person I call Father. Not some mess of genetic goop in a lab."

The urge to close the few metres that separated them and remove his hat, to unmask the Kid once and for all, now that his monocle was off rose, and Heiji struggled with it for a moment. It was a great temptation, but at the same time, it felt wrong to do so. The Kid was unmasked, yes. But the act was like a gift. A gift of trust, a moment of truth without masks.

And Heiji found he didn't want to break that.

He waited instead.

"I didn't know that Kudo was my brother until you told me that Lupin and Holmes were twins. But we looked so much alike that I figured it couldn't be just a coincidence." Kid gave out a soft sardonic-sounding chuckle. "Hell, I wasn't even sure I was one of the experiments until you put it all together."

"But ya suspected."

"Yeah." Kid sighed ruefully, putting the monocle back on again, like he was wearily shouldering a heavy burden once more. "Just another thing to set me apart," he muttered.

The words were probably bitterer than the thief intended. "Naw." Heiji shot him a grin. "Just an interesting twist to the family."

The deer-in-the-headlights look was priceless. Especially since it appeared that Kid's eyes extended past the monocle.

Heiji felt his grin stretch wide enough that it felt like it was ear to ear. Kid blinked at him, then grinned back, extending his hand. Heiji took it, giving the Kid a firm shake. "Agreed."

He chuckled, feeling a lot better. "So, did you find anything interesting about our dear Seigen-san? I'm afraid all I was able to get was a likely name before I got dragged off."

"I heard about that, the pick-pocket case. Good job, by the way." Kid straightened, all business again. "I couldn't get a name, but I did find something else of interest."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. One of our dear Seigen-san's rescuers is a regular at a sushi bar down the way from our impromptu party last night. He stops there for a light meal and a drink before going home."

"I'm beginning to think you're a bad influence on me," Heiji grumbled good naturedly as he rolled to his feet.

"Really?" Kid followed, doing a handstand before flipping to his feet. "Why?"

"I haven't been to bars this much in a long time."

"If it's any consolation, I don't drink."

***

Kid had changed in an alley, one poof of smoke and Heiji found himself walking next to a guy in his mid-twenties, with a longer angular face, black leather jacket, dark gloves and an attitude that screamed either part-time thug or ex-biker, he wasn't sure which.

"Ya ready?" Kid drawled, his Osaka-ben matching Heiji's own.

"Yeah." Heiji snorted, amused. "Finally, someone who can actually speak properly. Kudo can't speak Osaka-ben to save his life."

The Kid flashed him an amused look, pausing to elbow him in the ribs just as they entered. "Don't try to look mysterious." He advised. "You only end up looking constipated and people start pointing you towards the toilet."

Heiji raised an eyebrow back. They were going in to pick someone up at a bar to gather information on someone's murder. Hopefully without anyone knowing whom they were, because Oton would kill him if he found out that he was going into a bar with an international thief. "And you would suggest -?"

"Smile." Glasses were pushed higher on his face as he grinned, looking like he was laughing at a private joke, or a shark about to pull a fast one on a hapless surfer. "And let people wonder what the joke is."

Heiji let out a brief amused snort, a grin involuntarily creeping across his face as he reached up to hold the curtain for Kid to duck under.

The philosophy seemed to work well enough for the Kid.

Kid ambled over towards the guy casually enough, appearing almost cheerful about the whole thing. "'cuse me, sir." The thief drawled politely. "You know Seigen-san?"

The guy looked up at them balefully, obviously already a bit into his cups. "What about it?"

"If you'd be so kind to answer a few questions about her, we'd appreciate it deeply," Kid said glibly. He'd obviously been watching too many cop shows.

The guy looked between them for a moment, eyes peering to make up for lack of focus before giving Heiji a hard look. "Do I know you?"

Heiji swallowed. Dammit, it was the guy who'd turned green last night. He recalled the Kid's advice and smiled widely. "Prolly not." Lying. Through. His. Teeth. Shit, he should have remembered that little fact -before- he walked into the bar...

"Lets... talk somewhere a little more private," Kid said diplomatically, putting a hand on the guy's elbow and hefting him up out of his seat, effectively distracting him. The thief deftly escorted their friend out of the bar without giving him a chance to complain. Heiji did not fail to notice the strange looks that the thief cast at the plates of sushi that littered the tables around them.

"We'll return him in just a few moments." Heiji assured proprietor, who was giving them wary looks. He waved cheerfully as they disappeared out the door. He kept the same big smile stuck on his face as he sauntered around the corner to the alleyway where Kid was still casually holding on to their 'friend'.

His mind distantly noted the difference between 'asking someone where someone else might live' and 'taking someone out to a dark alley to ask them a few questions' was a very fine line indeed.

Ah, the things he did for Kudo's sake...

Kid raised an eyebrow, silently stating that he would take his cues from Heiji.

He could live with that. "We just need ta know where Seigan-san lives."

The guy glared at him. Kid rolled his eyes. "Look man, we just need to know where she lives and we'll get out of your hair," He said cajolingly.

"I'm not telling you," The man said stubbornly. "Not telling nothing to no punks."

"We're not punks," Heiji growled. "We just need to know where Seigan-san lives."

"No."

"We think something bad may have happened to her." Kid added, "We just want to make sure she's okay."

Nice stretching of the truth.

The jaw came out stubbornly. "Do something is more likely."

"We're not robbers either." Heiji felt a nerve twitch on his forehead. Technically, Kid was a Kaitou, or a phantom thief. Somehow he got the feeling that Kid would take being called a mere 'robber' as an insult. "We're here to help someone."

"Ha!" The guy muttered belligerent insults under his breath about their breeding. Heiji took a step forward, only to be stopped by the Kid's hand on his arm.

"Calm down." Kid whispered. Heiji grumbled wordlessly back, temporarily dislodging the thief's grip.

"Ha!" The guy cackled. "I know what' you're up to! You won't get nothing out of me with that Good Cop - Bad Cop routine!" The last part came out with a scornful sneer.

Kid went perfectly stiff, the expression on his face deceptively polite as he released Heiji and took a step closer to the guy. "Oh, now see, there's the hitch." The thief leaned over, teeth glinting like fangs as he opened a hand in front of the drunk. "I'm not a cop. And no one ever said I was 'good'."

A ball of fire burst into existence in his gloved palm, lighting an un-holy gleam in the Kid's purple eyes as the shadows seemed to darken and increase around them. "Now... Let's try this again, shall we?" he purred.

The man gulped, beads of sweat pouring down his face, suddenly not looking so cocky.

Couple minutes later, their dear Seigan-san's friend staggered back into the bar, pale faced and much more sober than he had been when he'd left.

Heiji and Kid headed the other direction, towards the subway and the address they had been given. Kid looked very pleased with himself as he replaced his fire-resistant gloves with his normal white gloves and slipped the contacts from his eyes. "Well that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be."

Heiji shot him a withering look. "Ya just HAD ta ruin all my fun, didn't ya?"

"Well, beating him up wasn't going to get anywhere." Kid shrugged. "And my way was faster."

"But no where near as fun," he grumbled. Okay, so he hadn't actually planned to beat up the guy, but it would have been nice for the guy to answer him without the scare tactics.

The Kid snerked but ever-so-graciously let it go.

***

"This is it?" Kid whispered, voice hushed as they paused outside the door of a normal looking apartment building. The closed narrow hallway was empty, but the thief was obviously nervous in such an encased area. Heiji couldn't fault him at the moment; he didn't exactly have an excuse handy to explain why they were in the hallway in case someone else decided to join them in the corridor.

"You were there with me." Heiji shot back.

Kid shrugged in response. Heiji shook his head and raised his hand to knock on the door.

"Wait."

He paused in mid-movement, the Kid's posture suddenly tense as he looked intently at the door, like a cat that had just heard a mouse in the kitchen. "What?"

"Someone's been here." The other boy's voice was hushed. Heiji frowned. He'd hoped that their dear Seigen-san was home but that wouldn't explain the thief's reaction. Eyes narrowing, he noticed what the Kid obviously had -the door was not closed all the way. Not by much, just enough for the latches not to catch. "I didn't do it," Kid quickly protested.

Heiji frowned. It was unlikely that Seigan would leave the door unlocked. It was more likely that it was as the Kid said; someone had gotten there before they did.

Not good.

Kid flattened himself up against the wall as Heiji did the same on the other side of the door, one hand carefully pressing the door open. It moved easily, without noise. Kid held a finger up to his lips, the white-hatted head peering around the edge with a wariness that screamed of caution and an attitude that spoke of old habit.

The fierce expression that was habitual for the kaitou slipped for a moment, the cat-like eyes becoming widening in shock, horror, sorrow and dismay before returning again. "We're anticipated." Kid quipped softly, a tad sadly as he slipped into the room, a white shadow of a ghost.

Anticipated? Heiji gave a superfluous glance around the hall and followed, noting the various crafts that decorated the small front room. Beads, fabric, looms and masks littered the floor and covered a fish tank with three guppies in it. Their Seigan-san was a creative person.

Their Seigan-san was also lying dead in the middle of the floor, a large pool of blood seeping out from a hole in her chest and coating the floor. Two cats, a white and calico wearing a bell and a white cat with large black in spots on its back mewed and rubbed their heads against hers, trying to wake their mistress and avoid the wet puddle.

Kid reached up and closed the eyes. Heiji wanted to protest about altering a crime scene when the Kid warned, "She's warm."

He could almost smell the gunpowder in the air. Who ever did this had to be close.

A little too close, he belatedly realised as a dark clothed man with a large handlebar moustache, like on those American Harley Motorcycle riders, made his appearance. A large pistol with a silencer weighing the end rested in his hand. "Hello, boy."

The thief tensed. "Snake." he acknowledged. Heiji frowned. Kid knew the murderer. The question being, how well?

"I see you have a friend." the man in black said conversationally, admiring the gun for a moment. "Rather dangerous, don't you think?"

"Sometimes letting people close to you is a risk you have to take." Kid slowly rose from the crouch, arms spread out slightly either for balance or to show that there was nothing in his hands. "Why'd you kill her, Snake?"

"Just covering loose ends." Snake smiled. Except for the amusement that lurked beneath the surface, the expression matched the coldness of his namesake. A click echoed in the room, the pistol being cocked. "Nobody leaves."

Heiji could almost hear the click in the back of his head as the pieces fell into places. Seigan-san had worked for the Men in Black. And unless he was mistaken, mixed in with the crafts from around the room was the mask that probably allowed her to impersonate Kudo Shin'ichi. Although it had probably taken some help to put on correctly, if his experience was any guideline. But Hanashika Taiho's murder was probably supposed to be her last job.

Correction, -was- her last job.

A white blur hit him, propelling him out the door as the Kid half tackled - half pushed him down the corridor, which now seemed like an off-white tunnel of death with nothing to use as cover. He suddenly had a wave of empathy for the Kid's fear of enclosed spaces. "Move!"

"Friend of yers?" Heiji growled as Kid shoved him none too gently up the staircase at the end. Bits of plaster exploded behind them, a bullet striking the wall as they began racing up the stairs.

"Hardly." Kid snapped back. "That's the guy that killed my father."

Stop. Pause. Rewind. Oh. Definitely no loss of love there. "Sorry."

Another set of footsteps joined theirs on the staircase. Heiji was grateful for the twist every half floor that provided cover, even if the stairs were going to kill his legs. "Fergit it."

They burst out on to the rooftop, both of them looking around, panting slightly for breath. It was empty except for various vents, machinery and empty laundry racks. They dove in opposite directions as Snake's footsteps rang out behind them. The trechcoated man made it perfectly clear that he wasn't discriminatory as to which one of them he shot, just so long as they both died.

Heiji cast around, looking for something to use as a weapon and cursing his lack of gadgetry. One of Kudo's tricks would be handy right about now. Kid didn't have that problem, ducking and weaving from hiding place to hiding place as he fired his card gun.

"Hey, cuz," Heiji called, drawing Snake's attention as Kid dashed for a bit of cover that was a bit farther away than Heiji considered a safe distance. "You wouldn't happen ta be an anime fan, would ya?"

The thief waited until he had reached a relatively safe place before answering. "Why?"

"Cause ya move just like one." Heiji dashed to a new hiding place of his own, flying playing cards covering his run. "Are ya human or a jumpin' bean?!"

"Some days, its hard to tell the difference," Kid admitted. Heiji spared him a flash of a grin as he spotted what he'd been hoping for, a length of pipe that had most likely fallen from a laundry rack. A dive and roll across the rooftop allowed him to safely snatch up the sturdy pipe before ducking behind another vent.

Flying cards from the Kid distracted Snake. Heiji muttered a quick prayer for luck and charged at Snake, gripping the pipe like a bokken to smash the gun out of the man's hand. The man in black turned, avoiding the strike. Heiji crouched, sneakers gripped the cement as he killed his momentum before he went over the edge of the roof and swung the pipe again, the metal knocking into the back of Snake's legs, knocking him down.

"Heh." Heiji grinned, rising. "Gotcha."

"Look out!" The Kid tackled Heiji, his arms wrapping around his torso from behind as the momentum pushed the taller boy backwards.

"We're too close to the edge!" Heiji dropped the pipe, making a futile attempt to remain upright. Snake was slightly winded but still armed. If he shot them at this range, there was no way for him to miss. The rooftop door swung open again, more men dressed in black coming out. Dull polished metal gleamed from black gloved hands.

The phantom thief's face was set with a determined edge as they both went over. "Exactly."

"Wha-AAAGGGGHHHHHHH!!!"

:: WOOSH! ::

The hang-glider snapped open, slowing their decent. Oh, yeah... Kid could fly.

"Can yer glider hold two people?" Heiji gulped as he looked down to see the ground fly by dozens of metres below his feet, the only thing keeping him from falling being the thief's arms under his.

"It did once," the Kid admitted. "But she was over a third lighter than you are."

Pa-ching! They both flinched as a bullet went whizzing past. The Kid attempted to roll, changing their flight path, but was hindered by the extra weight that Heiji presented. The Kid winced above him as Heiji felt himself begin to slide out of the thief's grasp.

"Drop me," Heiji instructed as the gravity pulled the glider down toward the rooftops. "Ya can glide to safety and I'll take the stairs down."

"No."

"Just do it!" he snapped.

"No." The Kid's voice was determined. Another bullet whizzed by, missing them by a wide margin.

"Dammit, just let go of me!" The ground was just a few metres under his feet, he could make it safely. It would hurt, but it was the best way he could see for both of them to make it in one piece.

"Look, you're the one going on about family not abandoning family, right?" the Kid growled, his grip tightening. "So shut up and let me fly. I'm not going to drop you until I'm ready to drop you, Got It?!"

Heiji blinked, taken back by the ferocity in the tone. "Got it."

"Good. A few more blocks and he won't see us anyway." The Kid sounded smug, but he could detect the strain in his voice. The Kid was lighter by several kilos, and smaller by a couple of centimetres too. Heiji was quietly impressed by the thief's stubbornness.

The glider was descending lower, and finally his feet scraped against the flat surface of a rooftop and he ran/dragged across it. The Kid let go, flying a few more metres before getting his feet under him and the glider snapped back into the usual cape. The Kid sighed, theatrically falling backwards on to the roof and panted to catch his breath.

"You okay?" Heiji asked, walking over to look at him.

"I thought my arms were going to fall off!" the Kid wailed. "You're HEAVY!"

"Well..." He crossed his arms and smirked. "I told ya to drop me."

Kid glared in response. "Shaddup. Gimme a second for my hands to regain feeling and lets book it."

He chuckled. "Deal."

***

"Guess this is the end, huh?" The Kid gave him a hesitant grin. They were on the rooftop across the street from the Mouri detective agency, watching the lights turn on down below. "I helped you find the killer, our deal is concluded. Next time we meet, you'll be after my hide again, won't you?"

Heiji returned the grin, his own hesitation showing through. "That's right, I did promise to track ya down, didn't I?" he mused thoughtfully.

"Yup."

"Hn." He wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to feel here. On one hand, this was his cousin, who had just saved his life. On the other hand, this was a world-renowned thief with a sense of humour that drove the law enforcement insane.

"Before we go though..." the Kid looked uncertain. "Could I ask something from you?"

He blinked, slightly surprised. "Depends."

"Kudo." The thief motioned towards their relative below. "Could you keep an eye on him for me? I don't think he's going to be pleased to see me for a while."

Honest concern radiated off the thief, and Heiji felt his shoulders relax. "On one condition." he agreed, a grin creeping across his face.

"Which is?" It was Kid's turn to turn suspicious.

"Keep an eye on our other cousin." His grin grew larger. "Seein' as I don't know who they are."

This got a laugh out of the Kid, a huge grin crossing his face. "I don't think I have a choice in that regard. Given a half a chance he tends to stick pretty close."

"Will have to meet him sometime." he said neutrally. There was a story there, one he would love to hear sometime. "But you have a Deal," He said, holding out his hand.

The Kid took it, clasping it with a gloved hand and they shook in a business like manner despite his manic grin.

Of course, that didn't last for very long. Grins firmly planted on faces, they both attempted to squeeze the fingers off the other. It didn't quite work, and after several moments, they let go, fingers numb and their masculine egos intact.

"Take care of yourself, Cousin." Kid tipped his hat towards him before launching himself off the building, his hang glider snapping open and lifting him up into the night sky.

He watched him fly until the thief was no more than a white dot in the night sky.

"You too, cuz," he spoke into the empty air. "You too."

Then he turned to go downstairs and to the Mouri Detective Agency, where he would call the police to deliver the news that Kudo was off the hook.

***

Heiji slapped a pleasant expression on his face, rang the doorbell, stuck his hands comfortably in his pockets and waited. He was pretty sure that his short amount of time with the Kid was already starting to show its influence, -he doubted if he would have ever dared to pull a stunt like this before hand.

The door opened and a pleasant looking woman opened the door, her hair tied back with a kerchief and a feather duster in one hand. She smiled at him, making the dust smudge on the corner of one cheek crinkle with smiling and laugh lines. "Can I help you?"

"I hope so." He grinned cheerfully. "Is Kid the Phantom Thief home?"

Emotions quickly crossed her face, surprise, shock, confusion, before settling on a determined puzzlement. "I'm sorry?"

"I asked if the Kaitou Kid was home," he repeated gamely.

A brief flash of anger sparked in her blue eyes, and it looked like she was ready to slam the door in his face. "I'm afraid I don't know-"

"Mom. It's okay." A somewhat familiar voice, higher pitched and mellower than he was used to hearing, cut her off. They both turned to look at the newcomer.

It was the Kid, only... it wasn't. Gone was the cool thief, to be replaced by a teenage boy his age, with wild hair that looked like it ate combs on a regular basis and scruffy jeans and a dark tee shirt, covered with leaves, dirt and white feathers. A hesitant smile spread across his face as he wiped a smudge of dirt on his cheek with the back of one hand, making the smudge bigger. "Guess the Magic Show is over after all, huh?" he ventured, slowly walking closer.

"Why?" He shot the thief an innocent grin. "Ya plannin' on quittin'?"

"Eh?" Confusion flickered across the magician's face. Heiji grinned and slung an arm around the shorter boy's neck in a friendly almost-stranglehold.

"You promised to introduce me to our cousin, remember?" He smirked.

The Kid blinked, then returned his grin with a delighted one of his own. "I did, didn't I?" He chuckled warmly, reaching up to make a grab at Heiji's hat, which he avoided. Heiji smirked, and eased up on the stranglehold, allowing Kid to straighten and shoot a grin to the worried looking woman. "Mom, this is Hattori Heiji, my biological cousin. Heiji, his is MY Mom." The pride in his voice was unmistakable.

His mother however, just looked confused and more than a little alarmed. "Kaito?" Kid, or Kaito, flashed a look at him, silently explaining that she didn't know that he knew he was adopted. He nodded back, a mixture of understanding and silent apology. His parents didn't know that he knew either.

Though he was amused by the fact that they were doing the same communicating without words thing that he and Kudo did. He wondered if Kid, no, Kaito even knew he was doing it.

"Mom, it's okay. Really." Kaito's grin faltered a bit as his mom continued to look between the both of them, confusion and not just a little fear still radiating from her. She finally paused, eyes closing as she took a deep breath that seemed to calm her down.

Kaito moved towards her, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Mom?"

"I'm fine." His mom placed her hands over his and squeezed. "I'm fine." She repeated, a bit surer of herself. She opened her eyes, which were large and brimming with tears, an odd contrast to bittersweet look in them and the fond smile on her face. "Go on, we'll talk later."

Kaito hesitated. "You sure?"

"This can wait," Heiji seconded, feeling bad for the trouble he obviously caused. "I didn't mean to cause any problems."

She shook her head, giving her son's hand a final pat before letting it go. "It's okay. Just a bit of a surprise, that's all." Her tone turned fond and business-like as she made little shoo-ing motions with her hands. "Go visit your cousins. Heiji-kun, you're staying for supper?"

"I, uh..." He felt a sweatdrop sliding down the back of his head. It was not so much a question as a command. Kaito raised an eyebrow, giving him a small reassuring smile. "If it's okay-?" he temporised.

"It is," She said firmly, the tears fading away. "Now go, shoo. I'll see you at supper."

Kaito paused, then gave his mother a hug and an awkward but fond kiss to her cheek. "See you soon." Then he stepped back and started heading down towards the sidewalk with a wave.

"Nice to meet ya." Heiji gave her a quick bow darting off after his hyper-active cousin. A few steps later, when a feather drifted off Kaito's shirt and hit him, he inquired, "Shouldn't you clean up if we're going to visit our cousin?"

"Nah." Kaito gave him an easy grin. "S'fun to play with Bird-brain's mind like that. You'll love him, he's got a stick up his butt like a metre long, it's great fun to yank his chain."

Heiji had to grin at that. "Sounds like fun."

"It is. Oh, and Heiji?" Kaito's grin turned downright wicked.

"...yeah?" A bad feeling trickled down the back of his spine.

"Call Mom 'Aunty' when we get back." Kaito grinned and slung a dusty sleeve around his shoulders. "Welcome to the family."

+++ fin +++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many many thanks to those people who have bugged us to work on this over the past year, especially Ysabet, Becky Tailweaver, Dogmatix and the rest of the late-night fic group. Chocolate and glomps to those who beta it and were patient with my grammar errors, Mel Redcap and Kiena Tesedale.
> 
> If you've read Ysabet's '[Conversations Among Ghosts](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/815714/1/Conversations-Among-Ghosts)', you'll notice that there are three Gajin girls on the bus as suspects and later get killed at a strange temple. It was an inside joke, I'm the one imitating the bazooka and convinces the others to go to the temple. ^^;; The other two are other DC fic writers/artists. (you'll have to guess which ones)  
> To return the favour, we asked Ysabet if we could kill her here. She said yes and gleefully hopped up and down.  
> Becky Tailweaver wanted to get killed in a fic as well, so she ended up dying in the first line. *laughs*
> 
> Ysabet = Oath of God  
> Seigan = Oath to God  
> (the cats, guppies and living room are hers as well)
> 
> Becky/Rebecca = Captivating  
> Taiho = arrest; apprehension; capture  
> Hanashika = Storyteller
> 
> April 2003 - Sept 2004


	2. The Price You Pay for Friendship

The Price You Pay: For Friendship  
By Icka! M. Chif 

++++

"I don't need an escort, Hakuba." Kaito growled. "I can find my way around Osaka just fine, thanks." He'd been trying in vain for the past half hour to ditch the British Detective, but Hakuba stuck to him like a bad rash.

"And I want to meet this 'cousin' of yours." The disbelief in his icy tone was nearly tangible.

Kaito rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. We're here anyway." He stopped in front of a gate leading to a very traditional looking house and pointed to the name written on the side. "You think you could leave now? Y'know? Shoo! Shoo!" He made little brushing movements with his hands at the blond.

Hakuba crossed his arms, an eyebrow rising. There were times when Hakuba reminded Kaito of a stone golem. Denser than a boulder and just as un-moveable. Idiot probably thought he was pointing at a random house, never mind the fact the detective had looked over his shoulder to see the scrap of paper with the map and address on it several times since they'd started walking.

"Fine." He sighed, opening the gate and walking in, courteously holding the gate open for the detective, just to be annoying. Hopefully Heiji would know of some way to shake him off, this was getting annoying. While he usually didn't mind Hakuba's company so much, he really was looking forward just spending time just with his cousin.

He smirked to himself. Of course, Hakuba was probably still sore over the fact that the Kid got away with another heist early this morning. He clearly didn't believe that Kaito himself was in Osaka for a little shopping and to visit a cousin.

Hopefully Heiji wouldn't be sore about the Kid getting away with the heist either, he'd been on the case as well. He didn't think the two detectives had crossed paths, but then he hadn't been keeping too close of an eye on either of them at the time either.

Kaito broke off his musings as they reached the front door and he knocked. A pattering of footsteps echoed from inside the house and a bright grin greeted them.

"Kaito!" Hattori Heiji beamed. "'Bout time ya got here, Cuz! C'mon in, c'mon in!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Kaito watched as the smug look on Hakuba's face fell and quietly smirked, a sense of relief going through him. Served the idiot right.

"Hey, ya brought a friend too." Heiji's grin turned to Hakuba. "Ya must be Hakuba Saguru, my Cuz has told me a lot about ya. You spendin' the night too? Great!"

Relief was sidelined by confusion and shock as both of them were bodily escorted inside, the door sliding shut behind them.

Kaito blinked. Hakuba blinked. Heiji rambled on. "I don't see any bags with ya, do you have pyjamas? If not, we've got some sleepin' kimonos that should fit ya-"

Heiji was tuned out as he slipped out of his sneakers, sharp ears picked up the softer sound of footsteps. He glanced up just in time to see a small boy patter up to them a small amount of hesitation and a large amount of curiosity and suspicion on his small face.

A small familiar boy with glasses.

His brother, in fact.

Kaito smelled a set-up.

"Oh, hey!" Heiji grinned, still yammering at a thoroughly confused Hakuba, something that Kaito would have enjoyed immensely any other time, and paused to make introductions. "This is Ku-er, Edogawa Conan. He's stayin' the night too. Conan, this is my cousin I was tellin' ya about, Kuroba Kaito and a friend of his, Hakuba Saguru. He's a detective from England."

Both he and Hakuba twitched faintly at being introduced as 'friends'. Friendly Rivals, certainly. 'Friends' was occasionally pushing it. Hakuba moved forward anyway, his impeccable manners coming to the fore automatically. "Pleased to meet you." He gave a slight bow.

"We've met." Conan bowed back. "At the Sunset Mansion."

"That's right." Hakuba relaxed slightly, back on more stable ground. "The Kid was disguised as your guardian, Mouri Kogoro. I hope he was not too harmed."

Kaito ignored the almost sarcastic looks the blond was giving him out of the corner of his eye.

"A little drugged." Conan shrugged. "Not that anyone could tell."

"Heiji..." Shoes left in the entryway, he stepped up to the main level of the house and wrapped a not-so friendly arm around his cousin's neck. "Favourite cousin of mine. Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Heiji made a choking sound as his windpipe was playfully crushed. "Sure, cuz." He wheezed, waving at the other two. "Be right back."

They walked not-so amiably around the corner of a hallway to a separate room, where Kaito let go of Heiji's neck to push him not so gently against the wall. "What the hell is going on here?" He demand, fire burning in his eyes.

Heiji gave him a weak grin, apparently un-ruffled by the rough treatment. "I don't know what ya mean."

Violet eyes narrowed. "I can smell a set-up pretty darn well, Cousin. And this positively REEKS. Why is my brother HERE?! Are you -trying- to ruin everything?"

"I invited him, okay?" Heiji shot back, a spark of his own temper flaring. "He was in town for the Kid heist!"

Kaito wasn't buying it. The miniature tantei could have stayed somewhere else, Heiji knew that as well. "And Hakuba?" He asked pointedly.

"Alright, so Hakuba was spur of the moment." Heiji dismissed it, slapping the magician's hands off of him and taking a step back. "Man, what's yer problem with yer Brother?"

"He's here, that's the problem!" Kaito shot back. "I'm to protect him, alright?"

"And that means stayin' as far away from him as possible?"

"Exactly!"

"I think you're tryin' to protect yerself instead." Heiji smirked.

"What if I am?!" Kaito growled.

"Dammit, Kaito!" Heiji grabbed the front of Kaito's jacket, yanking him forward off balance and giving him a small frustrated shake. "What are ya so afraid of?!"

"Why are you so eager?" Kaito snapped back, grabbing the front of Heiji's shirt in return. He was sick of this, Heiji trying to pull everyone together. That was great for the detective, not good for him. And things were just fine the way they were, without Heiji stirring up more trouble. Kaito had his cousins to heckle and his brother didn't know about him at all and that was just the way it should be.

The two glared at each other for a moment, defensive violet clashing with angry viridian.

"I just wanna know my family better." Heiji growled. "As -people-. Not just these strange relatives that others have. Is that wrong?"

"No." Kaito sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly as he let go of the Kansai detective. "No, it's not wrong."

Heiji let the fabric he was holding slip through his fingers, but kept his hands on the fabric in case the thief decided to run. "Alright, yes, fine, I'm afraid. " Kaito muttered, hands clenching into fists at his sides. "To be frank, this scares the crap outta me. Terrifies me even. Happy now?"

"No." Heiji continued to glare, marginally less hostile than before. "I still wanna know why. He's yer BROTHER for goodness sake!"

"Exactly!" Kaito shoved Heiji away from him, stepping away to pace a few strides in either direction to burn off the nervous energy. It was either that or self explode. "He's my twin. I know that, you know that, he doesn't know that. And when the proverbial shit hits the fan, He's Sherlock Holmes, I'm Arséné Lupin. You three are detectives. I'm a thief. That -really- stacks the odds out of my favour, which something I'm not entirely comfortable with."

"Kudo's not a bad guy." Compassion tempered Heiji's tone "Really he's not."

"I know, I know." Kaito ran a hand through his hair. "It's just kind of hard to picture him welcoming me with open arms after all the times we've clashed in the past. I'm really -not- one of his favourite people."

Was that an understatement if he ever uttered one...

"The -Kid- is not one of his favourite people." Heiji corrected. "He doesn't know Kuroba Kaito. Don't you think he deserves that chance? To know you as you instead of the thief? He doesn't have to know about the rest of it. -At least not tonight."

Kaito thought about it for a moment. It was so tempting, so very tempting. No mysteries tonight, just four guys hanging out and having fun. That didn't make the danger level any less real or insignificant, it just meant playing a little closer to the vest than usual. "Alright. Fine." He slumped, hands up as he signaled defeat. "We can play it your way tonight. But-" He caught his cousin's eye and held it "-if anything happens, I need you to swear two things to me."

Confusion flashed across Heiji's eyes. "What?"

Kaito smirked. "One: you're the one who gets to explain everything to both of them."

"Jeez, just give me the hard job." Heiji mock-grumbled, but his spirits where obviously light. "And the other?"

"Hold the other two back for at least two days."

This one caused Heiji to pause. "A two day head-start?"

"One day to pack everything up. The other to say good-bye." He could feel his face freeze in a bland mask to cover the nervous coiling in his gut.

"Good-bye? To... Oh." Heiji trailed off, understanding dawning across his face as he finally realized just what he was asking. Heiji could afford to be optimistic about the whole affair. Kaito had to think in worst case scenario, it was his neck on the line if this backfired. Heiji grinned weakly, making a half hearted attempt at teasing. "Would it really take ya an entire day to say good-bye to Aoko-kun?"

Kaito shrugged. He wasn't about to say that most of the second day was just to prepare himself mentally for saying good-bye. "How long would it take for you to say sayonara for good to Kazuha-chan?" He pointed out.

Heiji grimaced. "Yeah... Alright. My word on it. But I don't think you'll need it."

"We'll see." Kaito grumbled. He then raised an eyebrow, allowing a small grin to peek through. This was supposed to be a fun night after all. "Speaking of things not needed; Firecrackers."

"Firecrackers?" Heiji smiled, accepting the subject change with easy grace.

"Firecrackers." He reiterated, raising an eyebrow. "Who's bright idea was it to launch firecrackers at the Kid as he was getting away?"

"Mine, actually." Heiji beamed. Kaito glared. Heiji shrugged unrepentantly. "They couldn't get the permits for the 'surface to air' missiles."

Kaito paused, then a small shudder ran through his frame. "You disturb me sometimes." He muttered as he moved back towards where the other two waited.

Heiji's grin grew wider as he joined him. "We aim to please."

"And the attack Chihuahuas?"

"That was NOT me. Damn funny though."

Privately, and much after the fact, Kaito had to admit that the Kaitou Kid being attacked by hordes of tiny little yip yip dogs had been amusing. Almost worth the hassle that he had gone through, including scrambling to the relative safety of the chandelier in the middle of the room, with the mini-dogs hanging on to his cape just to hear Nakamori curse and threaten to drop kick the little buggers after one had peed on his shoes.

Outwardly, Kaito raised an eyebrow, maintaining his cool facade "Your sense of humour needs work."

"I don't know what you're talkin' about." Heiji grinned. "Works just fine for me!"

They paused as they came into the foyer, where Hakuba had discovered the history of Conan's name and the two Sherlock Holmes fans were deep in a an animated discussion about their favourite cases and characters.

Kaito froze for a moment as he realized what they were talking about. "Oh, no... " He wailed as he theatrically threw himself at his cousin, who not-quite comfortingly patted him on the shoulder. "Save me!!! They've CLONED!!!"

***

"You have a motorcycle?" Kaito almost jumped at his cousin.

"Yeah..." Heiji answered slowly. "That's how I got Kudo over here after the Kid heist."

"Do you know how to work on it?" Kaito continued excitedly. Hakuba raised an eyebrow.

"Little bit. Tinker with it here and there." The Osaka detective exchanged a confused look with the smallest detective before turning his attention back to his bouncing cousin. "Why?"

"Dad left behind a car." Kaito grinned gleefully. "But it's been sitting around for so long, I don't know how well it'll run. I'm not that great with cars, and I can't -exactly- take it to a mechanic, if you catch my meaning..." There was a slight emphasis on the words hinting at both his father and his after-hours job that the other detectives missed.

Heiji caught it the hint and nodded. He paused for a minute, the corners of his mouth crinkling as he hid a snicker.

"What?" Kaito demanded, a quick exasperated frown replacing the exuberant look.

"I'm sorry." Heiji snickered, waving it off. "I just got this mental image of your father goin' "Quick! To the Ki-Kuroba Mobile!" He raised his arms in a mock-superhero pose, stumbling slightly as he changed 'Kid' into 'Kuroba'. Due to the fact he'd been stuttering over 'Conan' and 'Kudo' most of the evening before finally giving up and calling the small boy 'Kudo', the stumble was ignored.

"Kuroba?" Conan echoed, his gaze turning sharp. "Why does that sound familiar?"

"His father was Kuroba Toichi." Hakuba quietly supplied. "A World Famous Magician until he died under rather unprobable circumstances approximately eight years ago."

"That's right!" Conan's blue eyes lit up. "Mom studied under him for a while, learning disguise!"

"Your mom?" Now it was Kaito's turn to turn speculative. "Tall, blonde hair that curls at the edges, curl in the middle of her forehead, really pretty?"

"That's her!" The small boy grinned happily. "You know her?"

"I think she showed up at Dad's funeral." Kaito shrugged. "But I know I saw her in one of Dad's albums with some American actress. Dad didn't have time for many students, so there were only a few. Does she still keep up with it?"

"Unfortunately." Conan deadpanned.

"She likes ta play tricks on him." Heiji snerked. Conan shot him a dark look.

***

"Oh, yeah?" Heiji challenged, poking Kaito in the side.

The wild haired boy twitched, sliding out of the way of the finger. "Yeah." He challenged back.

"Yeah?" Again with the poke and the twitch.

"Yeah!"

Heiji paused, a slow grin burning across his face. "Cuz? You wouldn't happen to be... ticklish, would ya?"

A guarded look flashed across the magician's face. "No..."

"LIAR!" Heiji cheered. "Hakuba, Kudo! Hold 'im down!"

A startled shriek made it's way past Kaito's throat as he lunged for safety. Hakuba was expecting this and performed a wrestling move, flipping the magician onto the floor and pinning him there. "Got his legs!" Conan cheered, tangling his smaller form around the lithe teens legs, preventing his escape. Hakuba snorted in response, grabbing Kaito's flailing arms and pinning them above his head.

Kaito gave the blond wide innocent eyes. "Aw, come on, Hakuba. Have a heart."

Hakuba -smirked- back, getting a better grip. "I think I'm going to look forward to this."

Kaito whimpered, glancing around. Conan had a similarly smug look on his face, and he knew instinctively better to ask for aid from that quarter. Instead he jerked his head towards the advancing grinning Heiji. "You! Cheater! Exploiting weaknesses to the enemy!"

"Who's the enemy?" Heiji demanded, going for the exposed ribs. Peals of uncontrollable laughter echoed from the squirming magician's body as the other two struggled to hold him down, quietly chuckling to themselves as they did their best to hold him down. Kaito finally got his legs from Conan's much weaker grip and used the leverage to pull an arm free from Hakuba, flailing around for something to protect himself with.

He grabbed a pillow.

:: THWACK! ::

"Ow..." Heiji protested, pausing in his attack as he grabbed at the pillow. "Not the bean filled ones."

Kaito not-quite glared back as panted for breath. "I wonder if we could just suffocate him." Hakuba commented, still keeping one of the thief's arms pinned.

"Ha!" Kaito grabbed a pillow with his feet and tossed it at the British detective. Hakuba watched impassively as it sailed over his head, on to the wall behind him.

"You missed."

"Yeah, well..." The magician used the distraction to wrestle his arm free and sprang to his feet, dashing to arm himself with a throw pillow that was lying around. "Banzai!" He joyously shouted, leaping back to hit Heiji with it.

Heiji dodged, scrambling for a pillow of his own. Conan laughed, a particularly boyish giggle as he dived for a pillow to arm himself with as well.

And thus began the first pillow fight of the night.

***

"Ha! Got you!" Heiji cheered. He blinked in surprise as Kaito slipped from his grasp once more. "How do ya do that?" He demanded.

"Practice." Kaito grinned, pouncing on his cousin again. The two of them went rolling.

Conan shook his head. "You two are acting like Genta and Mitsuhiko." He informed them as the two cousins playfully wrestled like small boys in a playground. "Childish."

"Yeah, but it's fun." Heiji grinned, using his larger bulk to break Kaito's grip on him. "I haven't done this in years. Kazuha and I used ta wrestle a lot when we were younger, then she figured out that she wasn't a boy and that pretty much put an end to it."

"The difference being you are never going to get -him- to say uncle." Hakuba informed the Osaka detective. "He's got a spine like an eel and is just as slippery."

"Ooo... Was that a compliment?" Kaito teased.

"-As well as the brains of a jellyfish." Hakuba finished.

"Hey!"

Heiji got a mischievous sparkle in his eye. Kaito noticed. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, don't do it." He advised in a stage whisper, sliding out of a headlock.

"Heh." Heiji smirked, releasing him. "Next Victim!" He cheered, lunging at the British detective.

:: WHAM! ::

The Osaka detective promptly found himself eating carpet and un-able to move.

"Hakuba studies judo." Kaito informed him dryly from out of harm's way. "And was in the wrestling team at his school in London."

"Oh."

***

"It was Col. Mustard in the Conservatory with the Candlestick."

"You have got to be kidding me! It was obviously Ms. Peacock in the Kitchen with the Candlestick!"

"Well at least we know somebody was doing -something- with the candlestick..."

"Col. Mustard!"

"Peacock!"

"Mustard!"

"Peacock!"

"Mustard!"

"Peacock!"

"Kuroba... are you stealing money from the monopoly game?" The British Detective's smooth tones brought an end to what was rapidly becoming a heated argument. Admittedly, three teenage detectives playing 'Cluedo' probably wasn't the best idea to begin with.

A look like a kid with his hand caught in a cookie jar flashed across the magician's face before being replaced by a weak grin. "Uhh... no?"

Three identical looks of disbelief faced him.

"Alright, fine." He admitted. "I got bored."

"So ya were checkin' out the Monopoly money." Heiji deadpanned.

"Er... no... I just wanted to see if the thimble was in there for later. It's the coolest one of the lot."

Hakuba's eyebrow rose as he flicked a roasted wasabi pea at the wild haired boy.

It bounced off the magician's nose.

Kaito looked down at the tip of his nose, going cross-eyed as he did so. He blinked once, as if in shock at the fact that HAKUBA of all people had just done that. He blinked again, then casually leaned back and grabbed a throw pillow, the surprise melting into mischief.

:: THWACK!::

"Watch the food!" Heiji called worriedly as Conan squeaked and ducked behind the Kansai boy.

And the second pillow fight of the night began...

***

Kaito slung a friendly arm around Heiji's shoulder. "You know what you and I are?"

The dark skinned detective raised an eyebrow. "Members of the Funny Hat Brigade?"

"Ha. Says the person who's hair continues to stay in the shape of his hat long after he's taken it off." Kaito cleared his throat. "No! We two are the only ones in this room with a sense of humour! Do you know what that means?"

"We get to make their lives a miserable mess?"

"Precisely."

Hakuba and Conan shot them near identical looks of non-amusement.

Heiji grinned at Kaito. "Have I ever mentioned just how much like the way you think, Cuz?"

"Not lately, no." Kaito grinned.

Hakuba was silent as he handed Conan a pillow and took one for himself. Both detectives paused for a moment, fluffing their pillows to acceptable shapes, then stood up and calmly walked towards the pranksters.

And yet another pillow fight of the night started...

***

"Hey, Heiji?" Kaito whispered softly as they listened to the snores of their two roommates.

Heiji sounded mostly asleep as he answered. "Yeah?"

"We're almost in the right order." There was a grin in the magician's sleep fuzzy voice.

The Osaka boy paused, then grinned in the dark. "Some how I don't think Kudo's goin' to trade you places so that we're in order age wise."

"What?" Kaito's voice turned innocently playful. "You don't think he wants to sleep next to Hakuba?"

The blond chose that moment to let out a particularly loud snore. They both chuckled.

"Night, Heiji. And thanks."

"Sleep well, Kaito."

***

"He sleeps like the dead." Conan marvelled.

"Yes, well..." Kaito scratched the back of his head. "I have several theories on that. None of them complementary."

"I'm sure." Heiji quipped dryly.

"He certainly doesn't sound dead." Conan tilted his head to the side, crossing his arms. "Anyone one got any ideas?"

"Several." Kaito volunteered cheerfully. "...But I don't think I'd be allowed to use any of them."

Both Heiji and Conan sweatdropped slightly at that, exchanging looks. "Hattori?" Conan deadpanned.

Hattori nodded, already on the same mental track. "Right. I'll go get the ice cubes."

Kaito looked down at the still-snoring Hakuba. "If you can find a large pot, I think I have some firecrackers may be of more use..."

Heiji flinched.

***

"Kaito. C'mere." Heiji grinned as he motioned his cousin over. "While Kudo's in the bathroom..." He pulled out his cell phone and flipped it open. Curious, Kaito looked over his shoulder.

"Took some photos last night." Heiji explained in a stage whisper. "Kudo's said before that he can't fall asleep if 'Neechan's sleepin' next to him, but evidently he doesn't have that problem here." He passed the camera to his cousin for a better look.

Kaito blinked, his eyes going wide before a grin spread across his face. On screen was a photo of Kaito, sprawled out and fast asleep, with Conan curled up against his back. With both of their faces lax with sleep and their hair messy, it was hard to miss the resemblance they had to each other. "Nice to see he still recognises me on some level." He murmured.

Heiji grinned, enjoying his cousin's reaction. "You weren't exactly restless last night, but you wouldn't stop movin' either." He chuckled. "I'd wake up and you'd have scooted somewhere else. You'd stop when you hit somethin', and then drift off in a different direction, like one of those hamster balls. It was entertainin' ta watch."

"So glad to amuse you." Kaito muttered dryly.

"We aim to please."

"Are those the photos you took last night?" Conan asked as he stepped into the room, dressed and groomed for the day. "Oh! Show him Hakuba's!" He grinned, walking over to look as Heiji took control of the phone again.

"What?" A sleepy Hakuba leaned over them to take a peek.

Heiji chuckled and changed the picture before the other two detectives could peek at it. "Here." He passed the camera to Hakuba.

"I want to see." Kaito protested, craning his neck to see.

Hakuba paused, an eyebrow rising as he saw the picture.

"Look at the next one." Heiji chortled. Hakuba pressed the button, his eyebrow rising higher.

"Well," He commented, hitting the 'back' button before passing the phone to the impatient Kaito. "I always did say I'd capture you one day."

One of Kaito's eyebrows went up as well as he saw the picture of Hakuba hugging what appeared to be a leg. He went to the next picture, his eyes going wide before looking down at his left leg. "Do you think I could chop it off?"

"You still managed to move around while he had your leg." Heiji supplied helpfully. "It was really amusin'."

"Saguru-niichan was muttering something about 'Snufflebottoms' at the time too." Conan smirked.

Kaito's jaw dropped as he looked up at the British Detective. "Your stuffed Elephant?!"

"What?!" Heiji and Conan chorused.

Hakuba looked the epitome of dignity. "That's Sir Stinky. Snufflebottoms is Koizumi's pet bunny."

Kaito fell over laughing. Hakuba looked down at him, an affronted air around him. "You've obviously never had her attempt to feed you to Mr. Snufflebottoms." He sniffed.

The magician's howls of laughter got louder. "Tha- hee-hee was when you-you bwahahahahaa got turned into a squirrel, wasn't it?!" He chortled.

"Snufflebottoms is a carnivore, yes."

"Uh... I think I'm speakin' fer both Kudo and myself-" Heiji scratched his head, exchanging a confused look with the smallest detective. "-When I say, 'Huh?'"

"Koizumi is our local resident black sorceress." Hakuba explained seeing as Kaito was currently useless for explanations a he was literally rolling on the floor laughing. "She has a fondness for small, cute animals. With big teeth."

"And Hakuba!" Kaito cheered before breaking out into guffaws again. He reeled in the laughter seeing his cousin's confusion. "It's a long story." He waved it off.

"One I hope to hear sometime." Heiji's eyebrow rose.

"At a later date." Hakuba seconded. "Much later. But in the mean time, I would not be so smug if I were you."

He pulled out his cell phone as well and pressed a few buttons before passing it to Kaito.

Kaito promptly fell over laughing again.

"Let me see that!" Conan demanded, taking the phone from the magician. There was a slight pause before he started snickering as well. "And you call me a baby." He smirked, passing the phone to Heiji.

The Osaka boy did a double take. "I do not suck my thumb!"

***

"Later, Cuz!" Kaito waved to Heiji, escorting Hakuba back down the path to the street. Heiji and Conan waved back from the door. His twin looked relaxed, a decided improvement over the suspicion he'd been greeted with initially. Heiji had a grin from ear to ear that seemed to threaten to split his face.

Kaito couldn't find it in him to be mad at his younger cousin about wanting to get all of them together at once, like a real family. Well, at least not mad for long.

"So," He beamed at Hakuba, who was appearing quite mellow as well "What did you think of my cousin?"

"He's an interesting character." Hakuba granted graciously. The blond gave him a sideways look, a small smirk on his face. "I'm surprised you were so comfortable, surrounded by detectives like that."

Kaito laughed in return. Of course, Hakuba was just getting in a dig about his being the Kid --or the possibility there of. But he was used to detectives. He'd grown up with Aoko and Nakamori-keibu and all of his cousins were detectives. He couldn't get away from them, even if he tried.

He stifled his laughter enough to smile at his stuffy oldest cousin, confusing Hakuba. "It felt like coming home."

-fin-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hakuba knowing Judo and Wrestling was gleefully stolen with permission from Hell's Hauntress, who pointed out that Sherlock Holmes practiced both. Hakuba, being a Holmes fan, would probably then study them as well.
> 
> Wasabi Peas - Roasted green peas with dried wasabi mixture on them. Spicy and crunchy, good snack food.
> 
> Bean Pillows - Pillows stuffed with beans instead of fabric or something fluffy. Sometimes with some minor padding on one side, so you don't get bean impressions on your face when you wake up. Rather hard on your head if you're not used to them. (a few ryouken we stayed at in Japan had them)
> 
> July 2003 - 17 Feb 2005


	3. The Price You Pay for Family

+++ For Family +++

Conan was bored. Mind numbingly bored. Bone numbingly bored. Lethargically bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored.

Which meant that his traitorous mind had a chance to worry over things.

He -hated- when it got slow at Mouri's.

A dove landed on the windowsill he was leaning against and he lazily moved to swat it away. Then he noticed something peculiar about this particular bird.

It had a note attached to its leg. 

"Psst." He opened the window and wiggled his fingers at the white dove. "Here, birdie, birdie... Nice birdie..."

The bird cocked its head, then shook its feathers at him before ambling over. He carefully grabbed it, and it allowed itself to be manhandled as he untied the slim folded piece of paper from around its leg. As soon as he set it down, it spread its wings and flew off again with a small cooing sound. 

He watched it fly off, surprised to notice that instead of taking off into the sky, it flew towards the street, to disappear in the shadows under an awning. He frowned and unfolded the note. 

"'Can you come out and play'-?" He blinked as he read the note out loud. "Play?!"

From the corner of his eye, he noticed a shadow separate itself from where the dove had vanished, then resolve itself into Kuroba Kaito, Hattori's grinning cousin.

Kuroba pulled a hand out of his jeans pocket and waved to him, before turning and casually walking down the street, message clear. Come follow. 

"Ran-neechan!" Conan shouted, jumping out of his seat and scrambling towards the door, grabbing his jacket along the way. "I'm going out to play!"

"Conan-kun?" He barely saw her poke her head out of the doorway of the kitchen before he had his shoes slipped on and was running down the hallway, wrestling his jacket on. "Conan-kun!" 

He sent her a silent apology as he took off jogging down the street, spotting Kuroba's wild hair about a block down the road. Kuroba glanced back and waved before continuing on. He sped up to a quick trot, struggling slightly to keep the other teen in eye shot as Kuroba led him down the streets, always keeping a slight lead on him.

A few times he thought for sure he'd lost the other boy, but every time Kuroba would simply reappear, hands in his pockets, a smile on his face and would walk off again. This continued until he finally found Kuroba waiting for him in local park, standing beside a park bench, two canned beverages in his hands. Kuroba's face lit in broad grin as he spotted him. 

"Thought I'd lost you there for a moment." Kuroba smiled, tossing one of the cans towards him. "Careful, it's still a little warm. Coffee, right? Black?"

"Uh... yeah." He caught the can out of mid air and checked the label. One of his favourites. "Thanks."

"Not a problem." Kuroba waved it off, plopping down on the bench with the same careless grace he'd shown at Hattori's house. "Grab a seat. I don't understand how you can drink that stuff without anything, really. Too bitter for me. Gimme hot chocolate any day." He held up his own beverage, which was, as stated, hot chocolate.

He really wanted to like Kuroba. Really he did. The wild-haired teen was quick-witted and amusing to be around.

But then there were the small things that stuck out and set him on edge. Such as knowing that he liked coffee and how he preferred it when he was sure he'd never drunk or mentioned it in Kuroba's presence.

Or that fact that the one time he had mentioned his mother during their first meeting, Kuroba had recognised her almost immediately.

Not Conan's Mother, the plump lady with black hair, but Shin'ichi's mother. Kudo Yukiko.

Which meant that Kuroba -knew- that he was Kudo Shin'ichi.

And he wasn't quite sure how to deal with that.

He took a seat anyway. So far Kuroba hadn't shown any signs of wanting to hurt him, but he continued to remain on guard. 

Kuroba snickered at his reaction and took a sip of his drink. "Geez. If you're going to glare at me like that, Kudo-" He grinned and leaned down, tapping a finger on the bridge of his glasses. With a small 'Pon!' they vanished off his face. "-at least take off the glasses."

Conan blinked, his eyes wide. Panic flared up for a moment, but then Kuroba leaned back out of reach, looking amused at his reaction. 

Finally he noticed his glasses sitting beside him, politely folded up as if he himself had just taken them off to clean them. He put them back on, feeling a small measure of his equilibrium restored. "I'm going to KILL Hattori," he declared at last.

Kuroba chuckled good-naturedly. "Ah, relax. Heiji never breathed a word. Well... aside from the calling you 'Kudo' all the time thing, but by now I don't think anyone notices..."

"So you figured it out on your own." Conan winced internally. That came out a little harsher than expected.

"Yup." The response was relaxed and easy. Could be the truth or a really good lie. "But, Heiji did ask me to talk to you today." 

Then there was some tension in the taller boy. The face didn't change, the hands remain steady, but the shoulder muscles bunched slightly. "About-" Conan's question was quickly cut off. 

"Nope."

Conan's brows came down in a frown. "What?"

The manic grin returned as the magician held up a handful of cards, spread out like a fan. "Well... did you know that playing cards were originally used as Tarot? Clubs were Wands or Batons, Hearts were Cups, Diamonds were known as Pentacles or Coins and Spades were originally Swords. So..." The cards were shuffled, moving like a blur between two nimble hands, before being offered in the palm of an open hand in a neat orderly stack. "Would you like your fortune read?"

Conan was less than impressed. He conveyed this with a dry expression and a raised eyebrow.

"I didn't think so." The cards flew through the air, being reshuffled. Kuroba's tone was light as the cards formed different shapes in the air, like they were being juggled. Arcs, circles, figure eights, different sounds and patterns to all of them. 

"Heiji said that business was slow for you currently, which meant that you were prone to either brooding, which is dangerous, or finding something to do, which is equally dangerous. So he convinced me to give you something to keep your mind occupied and out of looking for trouble."

"You mean besides figuring out how you know who I am or putting a soccer ball in your head?"

"... maybe some other time." Was the flippant reply. "But for now, it's time for part of a story."

"Part?"

"Well... the rest is up to you, if you find it interesting enough." Kuroba flashed him cheeky smile. "If not, that's up to you too."

"You know, I think I liked you better when you weren't trying to be cryptic." Conan commented.

"I'll take that as a compliment. But now... it's story time."

Conan rolled his eyes, but resigned himself to hearing the story. If nothing else, he had his shoes, a full can of coffee and his dart gun.

"Mukashi Mukashi or Once Upon a Time, however you want to start the story, there was a group of people." A card was pulled out of the shifting deck and set between them. A Four of Clubs, also known as 'The Devil's Bedposts'. "-They weren't exactly the nicest of people, nor the politest. Bad hygiene aside, they decided that they needed some help. So to do that, they created a man based off of a fictional character."

A second card was set above the Four of Clubs. The King of Diamonds. "Sherrinford Holmes." Kuroba explained.

Conan raised an eyebrow. 

"That didn't exactly work out, some flaws and what not, so they tried a second time." The King of Hearts was placed to the left of the Four of Clubs. "Sherlock Holmes, our main detective man himself. Which is where Fate threw in a joker." 

A smiling joker was put on top of the Four of Clubs, crossing it. "Their second experiment resulted in not one, but two people. A mirror to Holmes, Arséné Lupin." The King of Clubs was set to the right of the crossed cards, mirroring the King of Hearts.

"Due to the unforeseen result of the... twins, a third and final experiment was created." The King of Spades was placed below the crossed cards, finishing the circle of cards. "Ellery Queen."

Conan scowled. "Wasn't Ellery Queen two people?" 

"Yup." Kuroba's grin was easy. "Creates for a bit of a split personality, wouldn't you think?"

"Hn." He leaned back. "And this story is supposed to make sense how?"

"They're all people you know." Kuroba gathered the placed cards back into his hands and with a small *poof!* the deck disappeared. "And that's the end of my story." With a smooth easy motion, he grabbed his can of hot chocolate and rose. 

"Catch you later, Kudo-an." The name was stretched out, an amalgam of Kudo and Conan. With a careless wave, the lanky teen started to walk away. 

"Kuroba." He called out, pausing the other boy. "You're familiar. Have we... met before?"

Kuroba went completely still, one hand casually resting in his pockets, the other holding the can at his side. "Aa." He agreed. "Several times. But you've only ever seen my back."

A card was blindly tossed towards him with a flick of a hand, Conan catching it in surprise. "Find me when you're ready. Or bother Heiji, it's his idea anyway."

He glanced at the card that he'd caught. The King of Hearts, otherwise known as the Suicide King. Holmes, in Kuroba's story. "Don't you need this?"

"Nah." Kuroba tossed him a friendly grin, his non-coffee carrying 'empty' hand suddenly holding several boxes of cards between his fingers. "I've got spares. Take care of yourself, boya. And don't worry so much. I've kept your secrets this long, I'm not about to spill them now." 

The magician walked off, and this time Conan didn't stop him.

+++ 

It took him two weeks to work up the determination to track down Kuroba. It wasn't like the boy was trying to hide at all; all it had taken was a quick internet search for 'Kuroba Toichi' and he had gotten more information than he'd actually cared to have known about the World Famous Magician's death. 

The funny thing was that not a single news article mentioned the fact that it could be anything other than an accident. The fan forums however, were still ripe with speculation if someone hadn't staged that particular accident on purpose. Becoming world famous meant that you gained enemies, no matter how hard you might try to avoid it. 

And if Kuroba Kaito knew things he shouldn't, it wasn't a great leap of logic that the father might have as well. Which brought up some nasty suspicions about men in black. Yet another thing to talk to Kuroba about. 

But the riddle that the magician had given him had proved to be more difficult to solve than finding his address. The Kuroba household was also depressingly close to Beika, in the one of the more rural sections of the sprawling Metropolis that was Tokyo. A short train trip and he was there. 

The house was on the large side, a two story on a decent plot of land. Not quite as big as the Hattori house, but still enough to state that the residents were quite well off. He half-wondered if Kuroba had designed the house, like Masakage had done, resulting in secret doors and trap halls. 

He dismissed that thought from his mind, reluctantly walking up the path and ringing the doorbell. A woman who was obviously related to Kuroba answered the door if the long messy hair that was remarkably like Kuroba's was any indication. She smiled down at him, a friendly aura around her. "Hi."

"Hello." He almost stammered back. "Is Kaito-niichan home?" 

"Just a moment." She smiled and half shut the door. He tensed at the expected bellow that followed. "KAITO!!! YOU HAVE COMPANY!!!"

Well, that explained where the teen got his loudness from....

"COMING!" A shout echoed from the second level. Footsteps that sounded like a herd of wildebeests stampeding down the stairs thundered towards them. 

Conan found himself bracing for impact, only to have the footsteps stop peaceably at the door. Kuroba's familiar smiling visage peered around the door. "Ah, Tantei-kun! C'mon in!"

The phrasing caught his attention, but he couldn't quite place where he had heard it before. "Ah, thank you." He hesitantly walked in the door, half expecting a dozen men with guns or a trap door to open up under his feet. Perhaps a laser web or stun guns instead. 

Instead, it was an ordinary house, several sets of house scuffs waiting for him at the door. Kuroba's mother smiled at Conan as he changed shoes, as if having young boys over was a common occurrence for her teenage son. "I'll have snacks ready for you in a minute or two."

"That's all right." Conan tried to dismiss her offer, this wasn't a social call, but she was already walking down the hall, obstinately heading to the kitchen to get the aforementioned snacks. 

"That's my Mom." Kuroba said pleasantly, a fond expression on his face as he watched her leave. "She doesn't know about any of this, she's completely innocent. Do anything to hurt her and I'll have your hide for a pair of suspenders. You can keep your trick shoes with you if it'll make you feel better."

The abrupt change of topic threw him for a moment, then he shook his head. "It's fine." He turned his sneakers to face towards the door, looking up at the teenager with a slightly defiant expression. "You always entertain elementary grade school kids at your house?"

"I have a wide variety of friends." Kuroba motioned for him to follow with a tilt of his head. "Most of them wanna talk magic. C'mon up."

Conan followed, his hands in his pockets as he eyed the house. There were a lot of photos on the walls, framed mementos of Kuroba Toichi's glory days, autographed shots of famous people and pictures of the Kuroba family, both with a young Kaito and before his birth. 

"Nice photos." He commented. 

"Yeah." Kuroba agreed, touching one that looked like it was a favourite by the worn marks on the edges of the frame. "Trade 'em all to get him back though. He was a great man." 

"Aa." Conan agreed. So he'd read. And one of the Seven Knights his mother had met. 

"Here we are." Kuroba opened a door and walked in. "Grab a seat where ever you feel comfortable." 

"Thanks." He took a seat on the floor, noticing that the window was probably easy enough to get out of. Kuroba took a seat by the bed, leaning against it, obviously at ease with his own territory.

"Mom'll be up in a minute or two, she firmly believes in feeding growing boys." Kaito explained. "Got any small talk until then?"

Conan thought about it for a moment. He'd known Hattori for a while, it still surprised him that the Osaka detective hadn't mentioned his cousin before Kuroba had suddenly appeared. Which was odd, considering how close the two appeared to be. "How'd you and Hattori meet?"

"Ya call that small talk?" Kuroba commented with an amused smirk. "Don't beat around the bush much, do you?"

"No." 

"Fair enough." Kuroba agreed. "We met recently by accident. Got to talking and found out we had some ancestry in common."

"So you're not really cousins." Conan smirked.

"We are and we aren't." Kuroba's half lidded gaze looked smug somehow, pleasantly secretive. "But we're family, and that's really all that counts." 

A knock on the door forestalled any more questions. "I brought you boys some snacks." Kuroba's Mom said, smiling at them. 

"Thanks, Mom." Kuroba smiled up at his mother. "You didn't have to."

"I know." She set the tray down. There were two cans of juice, some seaweed crackers and... small yellow crackers shaped like fish. Kuroba's Mom winked at Conan. "If Kaito gets too excited talking about magic, just toss the goldfish crackers at him."

"MOM!!!" Kuroba looked horrified.

Conan chuckled. "Will do. Thank you, Auntie." 

She smiled fondly at both of them, patted Kuroba on the head and left them to their business, closing the door behind her. Kuroba ran a hand down his face, a faint blush on his cheeks. "She means well, really she does." He muttered. 

Conan grinned back. "Yeah." He helped himself to some of the fish shaped crackers. 

Kuroba grunted back, snagging a can of juice and opening it. "So. What'd you think of the story?"

He debated the question as he munched on the crackers. Some sort of salty artificial cheese flavour. "I think it was lacking in details." He finally concluded. 

He got an unexpected smile in return. "How else were we going to meet up again to talk?" 

Conan frowned. "So it was planned out to get me here? To talk?"

"To think." Kuroba corrected. "Really, Heiji should be handling this, it was his idea." The wild-haired teenager looked unhappy with the situation. 

"You said that before." Conan mused. Kuroba seemed both strangely reluctant and eager to tell the story at the same time. 

"Right. So you know where to lay the blame." Kuroba muttered, pulling a silk handkerchief out of his sleeve. He put the silk over his hand, then pulled it away, revealing a manila envelope in his previously empty hand. "Same story, redux." 

"You said everyone involved in the story were people I know." Conan interrupted him. "The organisation who created these people are the same people who shrunk me?"

"Very good." Kuroba not-quite purred, pulling paper-clipped print outs from the envelope. "Anything else?"

"That was all I got." Conan frowned at him. "You didn't give me a lot to work off of, you know."

"Yes." Kuroba agreed without remorse. "So. Once upon a time, or Mukashi Mukashi, there was a Black Organisation who decided that to study eternal life, they first needed to create life. After all, it never hurts to have a back-up plan." 

Conan nodded. Made sense, in a twisted way. 

"The first to be created was Sherrinford Holmes." Kuroba placed a stack of paper and a photograph, neatly paper-clipped together down on the ground between them. The black and white photograph was of a pale haired baby, staring at the camera with a bored expression. 

Conan raised an eyebrow. "And I know this person?"

"They've grown quite a bit since then." Kuroba assured him. "These photos were taken almost twenty years ago."

"Hm. What was wrong with them?" The baby looked whole. Ten toes, ten fingers, all limbs attached. There was what looked like a question mark carved into one arm, similar to a faint scar Conan had on his own arm, but that was it.

"Programming." Kuroba deadpanned. "To create someone truly brilliant, you need the spark of emotion to drive them. Without that, you have a disconnected genius unable to properly form bonds with people. Some of it can be learned, with time and practise, but it never becomes completely intuitive."

He nodded, motioning for Kuroba to go to the next one. 

"The next..." Kuroba laid a second file down, with another picture on it. "Is Sherlock Holmes."

Conan felt a chill run down his back as he stared at the photograph. It looked familiar. The baby's eyes were open and alert, staring at the camera with an alert expression. It too had the question mark cut in one arm. "And Lupin?"

Kuroba silently laid the file with the picture of the twin out next to Sherlock Holmes. Lupin's expression was equally bright, perhaps a touch mischievous where Holmes' was serious. Other than that, they could have been mirrors of each other. Even the question mark shaped cut was on the opposite arm.

The nagging sense of familiarity continued to annoy him. He should know them. 

"A member of the organisation rebelled, stealing the children away in the night and adopting them to good homes. To be raised by people who loved them." Kuroba added softly. "The story may not be happily ever after, but they did end up happy." 

"The last clone." Conan was surprised to find his voice was slightly thick, like he was having trouble getting the words past his throat. 

"Ellery Queen." Kuroba put the file down close to Conan, leaning forward to do so. A baby looked up at him, a grin on his dark face, tan despite the obvious lack of sun. 

"Three famous detectives and a gentleman thief." Kuroba said cryptically, leaning back against the bed. 

The last baby looked like Hattori. It even had the same silly hair spike on the side of the head. 

He felt a piece of the puzzle slide into place in the back of his head. Kuroba had said he knew everyone in the pictures, what if the baby really was Hattori?

-Assuming he believed this story about clones, of course. 

But if Ellery Queen was Hattori, same hair style and all... What other detectives their age did he know? Other than himself and Hattori? There really weren't that many. 

There was Hakuba Saguru, the British teenage detective. The pale hair of the Sherrinford clone could easily darken into Hakuba's tea coloured blond. 

The Holmes clone had a recognisable hairstyle as well, the cowlick that stuck up in the back looked like his own. And wasn't Kudo Shin'ichi known as a Modern Sherlock Holmes?

And the Kaitou Kid was called the Heisei, or Modern, Lupin. He eyed the Lupin baby suspiciously. Three Detectives and a Gentleman Thief. The Kaitou Kid? 

The puzzle pieces began sliding into place faster and he felt a faint growing sense of horror at the picture that was forming. The Kaitou Kid knew who he was. Kuroba knew who he was. They both did magic. They both called him 'Tantei-kun', something that he'd never told anyone about. 

Kuroba had that damned question mark scar on his own arm, visible under his short sleeves. 

The opposite arm from the mark on Conan's own arm.

His parents had no early pictures of him as an infant.

There were no pictures of his mother pregnant with him. 

He looked up at Kuroba, no, the Kaitou Kid's pitying, almost pleading gaze. He knew. The bastard had -known- . And had kept it secret from him until now. For what? His own amusement? To have something to dangle over him to tease him about at his leisure?

"I refuse to believe that the KAITOU KID is my BROTHER!" Conan lashed out at the thief, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.

A gasp from the doorway caught their attention. A girl with shoulder length wild hair stood there, her eyes wide as she stared past him towards the lanky teenager behind him. He didn't know how long she had been there, but it was obvious that she had been there long enough. "Aoko..." the Kid breathed, for it really was the Kid, his eyes equally wide and shocked. 

An inarticulate scream of rage, fear and pain tore from her throat as she threw the book she was holding at him. Kid didn't dodge it, just stared and winced as it hit him in the shoulder.

With that, she turned and stormed out, eyes scrunched up to hide tears. 

Conan turned just in time to see what appeared to be the world drop out of the other boy's eyes. There was a funny twist in his gut as he realised that the girl that had just left was Kuroba's version of Ran.

He suddenly had the sick feeling that he had done something very, very wrong.

"K-"

"Don't say anything, Edogawa." The voice was of someone much, much older than their seventeen years as Kuroba knelt down to retrieve the fallen book, his eyes shadowed by his hair. "You've made your decision. Go back to your life. I won't bother you anymore."

He nodded once, turned and left the room without looking back.

+++

"Figured I'd find you here." Saguru called out as he climbed down the grassy embankment the magician was sitting on. 

The magician didn't even flinch, just continued to stare woodenly out over the water. Saguru winced internally. That was... unusual. The other boy was usually ready with a quip, or a grin, or -something-. Warning bells went off in the back of his head.

"Your cousin called me, asking me to keep an eye on you." He continued. There was no sign that Kuroba had heard him at all as he walked down the grassy embankment to where the magician-thief sat. "He said that there had been a bit of trouble last night. He's been trying to get hold of you ever since."

Again, no response from Kuroba. He frowned, walking over to stand at the side of the wild haired boy. Above them, Watson made a confused keening cry as she circled. 

'Lifeless' was the first thought that came to mind. He'd seen his share of dead bodies, and Kuroba didn't look so much like he was dead, but more like he was living with all the life sucked out of him. Alive, but not.

Dull flat eyes, devoid of even the slightest hint of their normally vibrant hue stared out over the water, as if waiting for it to suck him in. Dark smudges under his eyes stood out in stark contrast against skin that seemed almost ashen. Even his hair hung limply around his head, as if it couldn't be bothered to spare the energy to stick up.

Warning bells upgraded to alarm bells. "When was the last time you slept?!"

Kuroba startled a little bit, as if surprised to find someone standing there, something that probably shocked Saguru more than Kuroba. The magician was -impossible- to sneak up on. He knew, he'd tried it countless times before. Then it passed, and the unalive look settled over Kuroba's features again. A small knot of unease started to grow in the pit of his stomach. Something was very very wrong in Kuroba Land.

"Kuroba?" He pressed. Again, no reaction from the magician. He paused, uncertain for a moment. Time to switch tactics. "I know you're the Kaitou Kid."

That got a reaction, but not the one he expected. Bitter laughter bubbled out of the lanky boy, sharp enough to draw blood. "Everybody knows." Kuroba commented with an overly bright and jovial expression, his words laced with a bone deep sorrow. "Heiji knows, Aoko knows, my older brother knows... I'm just waiting."

Alarm bells went into full Level Five Warning Mode. "For?" He asked, having to swallow. His throat seemed too small. When the hell had Kuroba gotten a brother and Saguru not known about it?!

"The end, perhaps." The words were too flippant, even for the magician. "The police, most likely. Perhaps even for you." Dull eyes, devoid of any of their normal vibrant hue looked up at him. "Are you here for me?"

There were many levels that question could be taken on, Saguru noted. So many different levels. 

"Yes." And so many levels he could reply to as well. 

"Ah. Good." Kuroba's shoulders slumped a bit, as if a bit of a load had just been taken off. 

The blond detective stared at the slumped body in shock for a moment. Did the idiot WANT to be caught?! And just what the hell happened last night?

He did not like the feeling of being left out of the loop. Or discovering that there was a loop that he was out of. 

Especially when it concerned Kuroba. While they weren't -exactly- friends, he liked to think that they were more than just opponents. And this sudden startling lack of information was mind-boggling. 

He was the World's Foremost Expert on the International Criminal 1412. He should -know- Kuroba by now. 

That didn't mean the magician didn't continue to baffle him to wits end.

He sighed after a moment and sat down next to Kuroba. Close enough to grab the other boy if necessary, but hopefully not so close that he was impeding on his personal space. He had promised Hattori to watch out for him, after all. 

Kuroba didn't react to that either, continuing to stare woodenly at the water. He sighed again, looking up at the sky to find Watson. The Sparrowhawk was flying in circles around them, her shadow occasionally passing over them. 

Hawks ate doves.

"Ever hate what you are?" Kuroba finally asked, his voice just barely loud enough to carry.

He paused for a moment. "'What' or 'Who'?" 

"What."

What could be the Kid, who was a thief. Or would 'who' also be the Kid? He sensed a headache coming on in attempting to solve that one. So he changed tactics again. It worked well enough for the Kid, after all. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

Dull eyes looked haunted. "...No."

He sighed. It hurt to see his.... rival? Opponent? Whatever he was like this. He wasn't supposed to be quite so human, have weaknesses like this. 

Obviously the solution was simple. Kuroba needed to make sense again. Or whatever passed for sense in that crazed head of his. And to do that, Kuroba needed sleep. And if he bloody well wasn't going to do it on his own, it was up to Saguru to make sure he did.

Saguru sighed, then reached over and wrapped an arm around Kuroba's head, resting a hand on his forehead as he drew the wild-haired boy's head to his shoulder and pulled them both down to the grass. Kuroba's head pillowed where his arm met his shoulder. He might have been moving a puppet for all the resistance Kuroba offered. 

"Sleep." He ordered, letting his arm fall back in a more comfortable position.

Kuroba didn't move, his eyes still open and staring at nothing.

"Despite anything anyone may have heard, there's no proof that you're the Kid." He informed Kuroba curtly. Yet, anyway. Heavens knew he'd been looking for it. "And no one is going to believe that I, out of all people, am cloud-watching with the Kaitou Kid. So go to sleep. No one's going to drag you away just yet."

When Kuroba had asked if he was there for him, this probably not what the other boy had meant. 

But it was what -Saguru- had meant.

Kuroba let out a breath, but otherwise lay there unresponsive. "You're different now." Kuroba commented quietly. "Calmer."

"Hmm. I suppose I am." He commented, noting that Watson had moved off. 

"Ever since you came back from vacation with the hawk." Saguru blinked. He hadn't realised that Kuroba had noticed Watson at all. It wasn't like he brought the sparrowhawk to school or anything, even if she did have a habit of following him. 

"Did I ever tell you how I got Watson?"

Long pause.

"... no." 

"Consider it a bed-time story then, because if you open your mouth to speak afterwards I'm going to use one of your filthy unwashed socks as a gag."

There was a twitch against his shoulder, and he felt somewhat better for getting some sort of positive response. 

"Over the last summer vacation, I went back to England, as you probably know." He began, shifting slightly to get rid of the grass blade that was poking the back of his neck. "While I was there, I went to visit the man who got me into mysteries and Sherlock Holmes in the first place. I'm still not sure if he was an old friend of the family or actually my uncle, but he was my favourite uncle growing up."

"He gave you that stupid coat, didn't he?"

"And hat, yes." He agreed, deciding to gloss over the 'stupid' part for the moment. After all, it was no more ridiculous then running around at night in a white tuxedo and cape. "He was an expert on Sherlock Holmes, the mysteries, the characters, the era, everything. They even enlisted his help on an interactive game set in London at that time..." 

Saguru trailed off, lost in the memories for a moment.

"I called, then went to his house for a visit. He was fond of stories about the Kid, you know. Thought you were a right scoundrel. Arséné Lupin incarnate he'd call you. It was perhaps a half hour after I called when I arrived to find the front door open and a side window smashed."

Kuroba shifted, curling up on his side, facing him.

"His house had been broken into, right after I called. I went inside to find him on the ground, dead. Watson was in the room as well, keening wildly because of an injured wing. They had knocked him over the head with a vase and stolen some of the first edition books. Watson, who had been hand raised by him since she was out of the egg, had somehow gotten into the room and attacked the culprit."

"I threw a fallen curtain over her, which quieted her for a bit, then called the police and looked for what clues I could without disrupting anything. It was just a smash and grab job, nothing of real note left behind. And Watson was the only witness."

"What did you do?" The others boy's voice was becoming hazy with sleep.. 

"The only thing I could do. Track them down." He tilted his head to the side, spotting the sparrowhawk in a nearby tree watching them. "Watson was injured, but wouldn't let me leave her sight. So I took her with me and together we found him. She's been with me ever since. That was how I found out the hard way that I couldn't lose my temper and do things on impulse, like I did when we first met."

"Nh?"

"Animals, especially birds, pick up on emotions very well." Watson gave herself a shake, then closed her eyes, settling down for a nap as well. "If I get angry, or irritable, she picks up on it. And in addition to that beak, she's got talons almost as long as your pinkie finger. So if I'm being stupid, she's going to let me know. So I had to learn patience and to control my temper very quickly. She won't always do what I'd like her to do. Sort of like someone else I know..."

He trailed off for a moment, glancing down at the magician on his shoulder. His eyes were still open, but only by bare fractions. "It turns out the thief was just some stupid git, down on his luck. He didn't know the blow had killed Uncle, he'd only meant to stun him. Unfortunately Uncle was old, and had landed at a bad angle. The strain on his heart is what killed him, really. Bloke was in tears as the cops took him away. But I guess you could say that was my trial by fire."

It certainly hadn't been easy. Between the loss of his uncle and dealing with a large grieving injured bird of prey, he'd been at wits end just trying to hold himself together, never mind solve the mystery. But he had, and he liked to think of himself as stronger for it. 

"Sherrinford."

"Eh?" He blinked, looking down at Kuroba, not sure if he had heard correctly or not. The other boy's eyes were shut now, and if he didn't know better, he would have said that the magician was fast asleep.

"Sherrinford Holmes." Kuroba repeated slowly, his voice sort of breathy from the haze of sleep. "Just as smart as Sherlock, but not as popular."

"Yes, the original template for Holmes." Saguru puzzled. What about it?

"You're one of us..." Kuroba breathed, almost so soft that he missed it. "The oldest... Sherrinford...."

That made no sense to him at all. "If I'm the oldest, doesn't that mean you have to do what I say?" But then not much of what was going on right now made sense either. He'd get it out of the thief later, after Kuroba had gotten some sleep and was making some semblance of sense again. "Well, I say for you to go to sleep."

Kuroba let out a soft noise that could have either been an affirmative or telling him to sod off. It really didn't matter either way, the magician was lax with sleep, exhaustion catching up. 

"Damn." Saguru sighed to himself, glanced up at Watson, who was still fast asleep. Well, that left him with more questions than answers.

You'd think after all this time hanging around Kuroba, he'd be used to it... 

+++

Watson's soft cry woke Saguru from a light doze he had accidentally slipped into, and he opened an eye to see Nakamori Aoko slowly walking up. There were shadows under her eyes, and it looked like she had been crying a lot recently. 

If from what he had deduced from Kuroba's disjointed conversation was correct, she had just discovered last night that her best friend was the Kid. So her haggard appearance wasn't a complete surprise. That was about the only thing that made sense, at least. 

She looked up at him, for a moment reminding him very much of spun glass- fragile, and likely to break with a jarring blow. She was stronger than that, he knew. Much like Kuroba was usually stronger as well. But there were breaking points. There were always breaking points.

"Good Morning." He greeted her quietly out of difference to the sleeping magician on his shoulder. 

"Morning." She whispered back. "Kaito... is he?" She trailed off, as if uncertain about the question she was asking.

"He's asleep." He deadpanned. Kuroba could work things out with her on their own time, Saguru wasn't the person for that job. "I don't think he's slept in a while."

She sighed, her shoulders slumping a bit. "Yeah..." From appearances, she hadn't slept much last night either. She straightened again, worried blue eyes searching his face. "Kaito... you know... what he is, right?"

Again with the 'what' instead of the 'who'. Most puzzling. "A bit." He admitted. 

She seemed relieved by the fact that he knew -something-. He got the distinct feeling that what he knew was different from what she knew, but they both knew some of the same facts. 

He could feel the headache coming back. 

"It doesn't matter." Aoko murmured, sitting down on the magician's other side. She smiled at him before lying down and curling up against Kuroba's back, her hair tickling his hand. He shifted slightly to accommodate her. "Kaito is Kaito, no matter what."

Aoko let out another soft sigh, and he could -see- some of the tension slip out of her body as she fell asleep, loosely spooned against her best friend. 

Watson let out a questioning cry as she flew overhead, her head tilted to look at them. Hakuba resisted the urge to shrug, and instead closed his eyes again, drifting off once more.

+++

The next time Watson woke him up with a cry, a small boy stood off to the side, looking at them with very serious, solemn eyes that seemed out of place for someone so young.

It took a moment for his brain to match the face with a name. Edogawa Conan. Miniature tantei. 

Who had also been at the slightly surreal sleepover at the Hattori household with Kuroba.

"Let me guess." Hakuba quipped dryly. "You didn't sleep well last night either."

"No." The voice was lower in timbre than he remembered as Conan slipped off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache. With the glasses off, it was easy to see the grey bags of exhaustion and stress under his eyes as well. The boy motioned to the other two sleepers with the glasses. "They okay?"

It took a moment to differentiate the difference between a question about their well-being and a question about them as a couple. "I don't know." He said slowly, trying to feel his way through what felt like blind corridor. Why did everyone seem to assume he knew more about what was going on than he did?! "He didn't sleep at all last night, and she just got here..."

"Ah." Conan nodded, looking wearier than before. "My fault." The admission seemed to hurt.

Saguru wasn't quite sure how to reply to that. 

The wind picked at the small boy's hair, sending it momentarily into disarray, and Saguru vaguely noted that the boy looked like a serious version of a younger Kuroba.

Kuroba's comment about both Aoko and his brother came to mind, causing a bit of a sinking sensation in his gut as abstract pieces fell into a place in an disturbing manner. It should have been impossible but... 

There was no way for such a small boy to be Kuroba's older brother... was there? 

Conan slowly walked over and plopped himself on the grass at their feet with a sigh that was much too old for such a small body. Glasses firmly in hand, he crawled into the space between Saguru and Kuroba, then curled up facing the wild haired teen. There was another large sigh from the small boy, and the tense form relaxed somewhat. 

Saguru raised an eyebrow. This was getting confusing. And crowded. 

He was even more surprised when a few minutes later, one of Kuroba's arms dropped down to drape across the small boy in a loose hug. Conan's eyes went wide as he stared up at the sleeping boy in a mixture of shock and wonder, then a small smile tugged at his lips. He squirmed around for a second, getting comfortable, then closed his eyes and went to sleep as well. "Thanks... little brother."

Saguru found himself very wide awake. And thoroughly confused.

+++

Saguru was still alert when Hattori joined them about a half hour later, shadowed by a small blond girl with wise eyes. "Let me guess." He deadpanned, looking at the girl. "You're in on it too."

"Irene Adler." The girl introduced herself. "Call me Ai." 

"Haven't had a chance to talk ta Kaito 'bout it." Hattori commented. His voice was jovial, but his expression was drawn, serious. "But she and her sister predate us by about a year."

'Us'? What 'Us'? Kuroba had called him Sherrinford, so did that mean he was included in this 'us'? Did he -want- to be included in this 'us'?

They were all going to have to Sit Down and have a nice Long Talk about all of this... this... confusion. 

"Oneesama was Eve." Ai said, as if that was all the explanation he needed. She sat down on the grass next to Saguru, pausing to give Conan an unreadable look for several long seconds. Hattori walked past the group as well, then choose a spot just out of Saguru's arm's reach, laying down on the grass and looking up at the sky. Ai rested her head on Saguru's chest, curled up against his side like a small cat. 

"What is this?" Saguru raised an eyebrow as he looked down at Ai. "Am I destined to become a pillow for everyone who comes along?" Despite the scowl in his face, it wasn't completely a complaint. Although he had long lost feeling in his arm that Kuroba and Aoko were using as a pillow.

"It's cause you look comfy." Aoko murmured, sleepily nuzzling Kuroba's neck. Kuroba made a murmured sound of agreement, but didn't appear to wake.

"Ahh... it's a nice day out." Hattori commented, putting his hands behind his head. Out of their small group, he appeared to be the one in the best spirits. And grinning like the cat who got the cream, despite the smudges under his own eyes.

Saguru raised an eyebrow at Hattori. "What are you so pleased about?"

Hattori's grin grew wider. "I got my family." He glanced over at Aoko, who was still wrapped around Kuroba. "Plus one!"

"Yes, let us all remember that this is all Hattori's doing." Ai's dry voice quipped.

"We shall have to thank him later." Conan commented. There was an evil sarcastic undercurrent to the childish voice.

"-After our nap." Kuroba muttered sleepily.

There were many murmured assents from the mass of dozing people. It had been a long day for most of them.

Hattori's grin faded as he realised that retribution was probably not going to be a pleasant thing. Then the Osakan tucked his hands behind his head and grinned again, looking up at clouds.

Saguru mentally shrugged. Ah, well. 

Such was the price you paid.

-finis-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mukashi Mukashi = Japanese equivalent to 'Once upon a time" 
> 
> Meanings I could find for Playing Cards as Tarot, plus the person that they represent in this fic:
> 
> Kudo Shin'ichi, King of Hearts. "A good-natured, fair-haired man. Good advice." _(suicide king, he's stabbing his own head with a sword. He's currently kinda the king of broken hearts at the moment, too...)_  
>  Kuroba Kaito, King of Clubs. "King: An honest, generous and affectionate man. A dark-haired man." _(batons = magic. Plus a club looks kinda like a clover, ne?)_  
>  Hakuba Saguru, King of Diamonds "A stubborn and influential man. A very fair-haired man." _(diamonds can also mean money, his father's the highest ranking of the lot)_  
>  Hattori Heiji, King of Spades. "An ambitious and authoritative man. A very dark-haired man." _(swords! XD)_
> 
> Joker [optional]: New developments, fresh starts, taking a risk. 
> 
> Can't remember why the Four of Clubs _("Changes for the worse. Lies and betrayal.")_ is the 'Devil's Bedposts', but it's used here to represent the B.O. - a very smelly organization. Hee hee hee
> 
> For those that do or understand tarot, the cards end up in a Southern Cross formation, just not laid out in the 'proper' order. (I can't do tarot, we completely fry the cards >P) 
> 
> There is some debate if the Kings on the playing cards represent historical Kings. Don't know either way, but just for kicks, these are the Kings they supposedly represent:
> 
> King of Clubs - Alexander the Great of Macedonia  
> King of Spades - King David  
> King of Hearts - Charlemagne  
> King of Diamonds - Julius Caesar
> 
> Masakage - Vol 47 ch 8-11, with Heiji


	4. Aftermath: The Talk

As a general rule, Kuroba Kaito did not get nervous.

In his two major fields of experience, as a magician and a thief, getting nervous meant mistakes. Mistakes meant either humiliation or capture, or both, depending on which persona he was at the time. Both of which were equally not as good. He had a reputation to uphold.

So therefore, it took a lot to get Kaito nervous. Usually it involved his twin, Kudo Shin'ichi or his shrunken form, Edogawa Conan, a lot of cops and usually some sort of interesting toy such as a helicopter or high-tech sneakers to make him break out into a sweat.

Kuroba Kaito was currently sweating.

And to the best of his knowledge, his smaller older brother was still in Beika, which was nowhere near close to the Neyagawa-shi part of Osaka.

No, what was making him sweat was a small slip of a girl who was leaning in so close to his face that he could smell that she had eaten takoyaki earlier that day as she cornered him against a wall.

Of course, after years of dealing with Aoko, he was of the option that small slips of girls were more dangerous than any big burly policeman could possibly be.

Turquoise eyes that were on this side of green instead of blue narrowed at him. "So you're Heiji's cousin."

He smiled at her, a bead of sweat sliding down the back of his neck. "Yup. Kuroba Kaito, at your service. And you are?"

"Tomoya Kazuha." It sounded more like a knell of doom then a name. She leaned back, giving him a bit of space to breath as she crossed her arms. "It's funny, Heiji talks about ya about as much as he does Kudo, yet neither his Okan or Oton know which side of the family you're from."

After some soul-searching, Heiji had chosen to not to talk to his parents about his being adopted. He'd never felt anything but loved by them, and didn't feel it was worth the heartache and confusion it would bring by bringing the truth out. So while it saved his whole family some heartache, it made things a little confusing when 'The Cousins' got together.

Kaito privately thought that it was amusing that his family, who dealt in misdirection and lies, were honest about their true connections while the families who sought to uncover the truth continued their own charades. Neither Saguru nor Shin'ichi had told their parents either.

"Same Grandfather he got his dark skin colouring from." Kaito quickly ad libbed, a grin on his face. Not too much of a stretch, really. Considering that Heiji had really gotten his colouring from the laboratory that created them, not some fictional Grandfather.

"Hmm." Kazuha did not look impressed as she mused over this tidbit of information. "So how come he only met ya a little while ago?"

"Bit of an accident, bit of a coincidence." His grin grew a little wider and he realised it was growing just a bit strained. "We only discovered a branch of the family that was missing recently."

Her eyes narrowed at him further, reminding him of that one phrase about shooting daggers with the eyes. "Ya do know that Heiji and I grew up together, right?"

"Uh, yes. He's mentioned it before." Blushing slightly the entire time as he explained why he always wore an omamori. Merely 'childhood friends', his top hat.

"Good. Then you understand that I won't allow anyone to hurt Heiji." Her hands moved to her hips as she leaned in again, a private fang-filled smirk filling his vision. "I'm wearin' boots."

He glanced down to realise, that yes she was. American Cowboy style ones, with what looked like pointed metal toes. "So you are."

The grin grew wider. "Did ya know that in America, they call them 'Shit kickers'?"

That was a new one. "No..."

"Do ya know why they call them 'Shit kickers?"

He got the feeling that she was going to tell him anyway, and he would not like the answer. "...no..."

The fang-filled grin turned down right vicious. "Cause they'll Kick the Shit outta ya."

That he would believe, very much indeed. She looked like a crotch-kicker too.

"Which will happen, if ya do anythin' ta hurt Heiji." She leaned back again, giving him some room again, practically oozing smugness. "Do we understand each other?"

"Perfectly." He nodded.

Given time, he could probably win her over and they could be friends. Now however was neither the time nor the place for that.

"Goooooooood."

"Oi, Kaito!" Heiji finally chose that moment to join them, pulling on a jacket as he did so. "Sorry for keepin' ya waitin'. I couldn't find my wallet."

"Not a problem!" He grinned, assuring his cousin. He'd place good money that a certain pony tailed girl knew exactly why said wallet had been missing.

Kazuha gave them a friendly grin and a wave as Heiji slipped on his shoes, all sweetness and light radiating off of her. "Have a good time you two!"

"Later, Ka'za." Heiji gave her a smile and a wave in response as they walked out the door. Kaito didn't bother with a grin, he just waved as he shut the door behind him.

"Oi, Heiji?" He waited until they were a bit away from the house before catching his cousin's attention.

"Yeah?"

"...We're not dating, are we?" Kaito asked seriously, a bit of a frown gracing his face.

"W-what?!" Heiji stumbled and nearly fell over. "No! What the hell brought that on?!"

Kaito scratched the back of his head before motioning back towards the house. "Cause I think just got 'The Older Brother Speech' from your girlfriend..."

-fin-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okan & Oton - Kansai-ben for 'Mother' and 'Father'


	5. Aftermath: A Phone Call

"Moshi Moshi, Kuroba residence."

"Kaito?"

"Hey, how's it going, Conan-kun?"

"... I think a thank you is in order."

"Ah. You got the news then."

"So that -was- your handiwork on the news."

"You could tell?"

"I think I'm disturbed, little brother."

"Heh. Blame Heiji, it was all his idea. I just implemented it."

"You still disturb me. -Please- tell me that you weren't actually showing your, erm, goods..."

"Nope! Air brushed spandex body suit. He's taller than me after all."

"Ah."

"However, the strategic placement of the water pistol Hakuba's idea."

"That would explain the screams."

"Yeeeah. Those came out niiiiice. The security cameras got some really good footage too. Good clear images of the face. Think I made it obvious enough?"

"Kaito?"

"Yeah?"

"You really disturb me."

"Can't argue the results."

"Gin arrested and behind bars? Hardly. But still... Posing as Gin flashing people in the subway?"

"Whatever works. After all, Al Capone got arrested for tax dodging instead of rum-running. And it does explain the trench coat."

"Kaito?"

"Yeah?"

"Glad you're on our side."

"Any time, big brother."

-fin-


End file.
